Saturday
June 22, 2024 
The young black bear that was repeatedly spotted in Central Bucks County recently was killed by a car as it tried to cross the Route 611 bypass Thursday afternoon, according to authorities.
Kyle Lubak, a warden with the Pennsylvania Game Commission, confirmed the death of the male bear that had captured the attention of residents who saw it multiple times over the course of the past 10 days or so.
“Apparently, the bear hit the car when it came running across the highway,”
Lubak said he was told by police.
The collision occurred near the Doylestown Hospital exit of the bypass.
The warden said he was “pretty sure” the 110-pound animal was the same one that’s been seen frequently as it roamed over a 10 to 15-mile radius, from Montgomery County and back into Bucks County.
“Every morning, he was popping up in the same area,” said Lubak, based on the calls coming into the game commission. Officials responded, hoping to trap or dart him with a tranquilizer, but “he was already spooked away by people.”
While it’s not uncommon to see black bears in the northern part of the state, Lubak said, they are rarer in the suburbs. This bear “was running around a little more than usual.”
Dozens of comments on social media expressed sadness over the bear’s death.
The bear’s body was removed from the roadside, where a tooth was extracted to confirm its age and its weight and height were measured. It was then taken to “decompose naturally” in another location, said the warden.
After about a year, mothers “kick out the young ones” to find their own homes, Lubak explained.
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