Floridians Stunned To See Large Black Bear In The Gulf Of Mexico

Cirrkus
black bear paw close up

iStockphoto / Derikjohn

A black bear was filmed in the Gulf of Mexico at a beach in Naples, Florida and the footage has left countless Floridians stunned. There are an estimated 4,000 black bears here in the Sunshine State but they typically stick to sparsely populated rural and forested areas… Not the beach!

Black bears are a part of everyday life for some Floridians but not all of them. I am a born and raised Floridian and I’ve still yet to see a bear in the wild here during my lifetime but that’s because when you look at the FWC’s Bear Distribution Map I happen to live in one of the many areas where bear sightings are not common.

Naples, Florida on the other hand is a major hot spot for black bear activity here in Florida. And that map linked above just got another dot after this bear was spotted in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico:

This Gulf of Mexico bear sighting occurred in the Park Shore neighborhood of Naples which sits a little north of the zoo… Part of me wonders if the bear picked up the scent of other animals in the area and that’s what drew it to the beach.

This is not a small bear. People think of Florida and the humidity + heat and assume the 4,000ish black bears are probably pretty tiny but this is clearly a decent-sized bear:

Distribution Of Bears Across Florida

As you can see from this map, while there are an estimated 4,000 black bears in Florida they are not found everywhere across the state:

map of bear sightings in Florida

MyFWC

The region just north of Gainesville is a huge are of black bear activity. As is the western Florida Everglades into the Naples and Ft. Myers region. But from there, if you travel up the West Coast of Florida sightings are rare. It isn’t until you get back up to the Florida Panhandle where black bear sightings are common again.

What does all of that mean? While you should always be vigilant anytime you are somewhere that you might cross paths with wild animals, there are areas you should be hyper-vigilant and parts of Florida where you might want to worry more about alligators instead.

With all of the talk about how rare this is in Florida, I should mention that I came across this viral video from the literal opposite side of the country last weekend and it doesn’t seem so common to see bears swimming in public in Los Angeles either:

How would you react you went out back to find a bear swimming in your pool?


Content shared from brobible.com.

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