Black Bear Spotted In Camden County
By Diana Rocco
WATERFORD TOWNSHIP, NJ (CBS) — Waterford Township Police say a black bear was seen near Ellwood, Richards and Linden Avenues Wednesday.
"It was just eating someone's trash, it was hungry," says Scott Goehringer, who saw a big black bear wandering through his neighborhood this morning as his kids were waiting at the bus stop. "It was big though--200 to 300 pounds, big bear. It was very surreal--you don't expect it, I don't expect it," says Scott Goehringer.
Parents were told to drive their kids to school, and Thomas Richards Elementary School was put on lockdown for the day while police tracked the bear back into the woods.
"The bear was just walking through the woods. It did come out and was eating some trash, but then it went back into the state forest. We just put schools on lockdown as a precaution," says Lt. Daniel Cormaney, of the Waterford Township Police.
A neighbor on Anthony Road first spotted the black bear going through another neighbor's trash, making a mess and dragging the bags through the woods.
"We mostly we see deer, bunnies…never a big black bear like that. It was awful," says neighbor Jean Martin, who also says the bear wandered right through her yard and got into her neighbor's trash.
Fish and game tracked the furry intruder, but by the time school let out, the bear had wandered about a mile down the road behind the Atco Raceway and back into the state forest.
"This is the first bear call in the 18 years I've been here. It was a rather large bear. It had people in an uproar," Lt. Cormaney said.
"We stayed inside today, and I was happy they were able to keep the kids inside the school," says parent Celinda Welsch, who picked up her daughter from school in case the bear decided to return.
Police are warning people in the area to keep an eye on their bird feeders, secure their trash and to call them if they see the bear again.
