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Black bear moving through Cohasset into Hingham, police say
Cohasset police blocked off North Main Street to allow the bear to cross Monday afternoon.
The recent string of black bear sightings in eastern Massachusetts continued Monday. Cohasset Police Officer Josh Kimball was dispatched to North Main Street Monday afternoon to prevent traffic from interfering with a lone bear there.
On Twitter, the department urged members of the public to give the bear plenty of space, and said that it appeared to be heading toward Hingham.
Black bears are in the midst of a population boom in Massachusetts, Officials estimate that there are about 4,500 bears in the state, and the population is increasing by about 8% every year. Bears are also roaming farther eastward than they have in generations.
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Evidence of this expansion has been prominent recently. Just last week, a bear sighting prompted Arlington officials to delay school start times. That bear was seen later in the day traipsing through Wilson Farm in Lexington.
The day before, Newton police told citizens to be careful after a bear was spotted running through a yard near Cold Springs Park.
It is unclear if any of these bears are the same one that officials sought to capture and relocate in May. On more than 10 occasions, in places like Franklin, Taunton, Freetown, Fall River, and Dartmouth, that bear evaded authorities.
Researchers have found that black bears in eastern Massachusetts are less likely to avoid humans, partly because of the plethora of human-originating food sources available to them. State officials recommend that residents remove all potential sources of food from their properties to keep bears from getting too used to humans.
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