Residents are asked not to harm bears; hunting bears is illegal in San Diego County

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: California Fish & Game

April 2013 (San Diego) -- Today’s reported sightings of a bear in Kearny Mesa raise an intriguing question: are black bears back in San Diego County?   In 1999 and 2000, a dozen black bear sightings were reported  in Cuyamaca, Julian, Ramona, Palomar Mountain and other mountain areas. But none had been seen in the past 13 years—until now.

This February, a Border Patrol night-vision camera caught a surprising sight: a bear crossing a roadway between the In-Ko-Pah and Mountain Springs Road near the Imperial Valley and San Diego County line, U-T San Diego reported.  ECM received a report of possible bear tracks in the southeast portion of the county last year.

Then today, multiple witnesses reporting seeing a bear in the Kearny Mesa area of San Diego.  A city Enviornmental Services employee claimed to see the bear out the window of the Sheriff’s department south of Balboa Avenue and west of I-15.  She summoned others, including an Idaho man familiar with bears, who said the large brown animal was indeed a bear.