There has been another alleged bear sighting in Valencia Friday night after an individual reported striking a bear while traveling in a vehicle near The Old Road.
The bear ran into the brush area after the incident and was unable to be located by officials .
This is the sixth bear sighting in the past week in the Santa Clarita Valley, as Andrew Hughan, the Public Information Officer for The California Department of Fish and Wildlife pointed out. In fact sheriff’s officials confirmed bear sightings Thursday night in Valencia that were even caught on camera.
“Bears are observed out and about, the weather is great but (when) looking for food, sometimes they get in trouble,” said Hughan
The single-digit number of bear sightings Santa Clarita has seen in the past week pales in comparison to the dozens seen in L.A. County over the past month. The black bear is the only species of bear in California.
The bears are not coming down from their habitat to hurt people; they are just looking for food and other means of survival.
“Would you rather eat bugs or pizza?” said Hughan. “Bears are quite lazy.”
Hughan also emphasizes these bear sightings are not necessarily an uncommon occurrence.
“It happens every year,” he said.
When encountering a bear, the most important thing to do is not feed it.
“People forget these are wild animals even though they’re cute,” he said.
Another good way to avoid bears coming on your property is to pick up all fruit that falls off trees and properly secure your trash.
Officials were unable to confirm if the struck bear was the same bear spotted in Valencia Thursday night.
