ASHTABULA — Ohio’s wildlife experts were spurred into action this week when they collared a 576-pound black bear in Ashtabula County, the organization posted on its Facebook site on Thursday afternoon.
The Ohio Division of Wildlife and Gantchoff Lab at the University of Dayton experts worked to place a radio collar on a transient male black bear in Ashtabula County.
Thanks to this effort the bear’s movement and behavior can now be tracked, helping to inform research and further the Ohio Division of Wildlife’s knowledge of this magnificent species.
Staff biologist Katie Dennison said she didn’t expect to see a male bear this big in Ohio. She assumed he was in the area specifically for breeding purposes.
Dennison described the bear as “young middle-aged, but definitely an adult.” Black bears can live 20 to 30 years in Ohio and the Midwest, the Division of Wildlife stated.
On average, over the past 10 years, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources has received 239 black bear sighting reports per year.
In 2023, 260 sightings were reported in 49 counties. In 2024 we received 370 sightings in 55 counties. Sightings were the highest on record in 2025 with 537 sightings in 69 counties.
Black bears are still considered an endangered species in Ohio, according to the ODNR.
Anyone seeking more information on Ohio’s emerging black bear population should follow this link to the ODNR website.
Black bears are promiscuous breeders. Males in particular will mate with more than one individual, while females do on occasion. The peak mating activity takes place from mid-June through mid-July.
An adult black bear can weigh anywhere between 150 and 700 pounds. Males average 300 pounds while the smaller females average around 175. Males, when standing upright, measure between five and six feet tall; females, typical of mammals, are smaller, measuring four to five feet. On all fours, most adult black bears are between 2 1/2 and 3 feet at the shoulder.
