Black bear spotted in DC neighborhood

Black bear spotted in DC neighborhood – again!

Almost a year later and in the very same neighborhood as the beloved ‘Franklin’ black bear, another black bear was seen roaming a Northeast D.C. neighborhood.

WASHINGTON - Almost a year later and in the very same neighborhood as the beloved ‘Franklin’ black bear, another black bear was seen roaming a Northeast D.C. neighborhood.

A black bear was spotted this morning in the Brookland neighborhood of Northeast D.C., last seen heading into this park, the same neighborhood where Franklin the bear captured the hearts of the region last June.

At least two people spotted the black bear in the 1300 block of Newton Street Northeast Wednesday around 7:00 a.m.

Experts tell FOX 5 DC they don't believe this is the bear who paid a morning-long visit to this same neighborhood on June 9 of last year.

"It was the most fun thing that ever happened. We all ran down to see the bear, and then a few weeks later somebody put up a sign on Monroe Street that said Bear Crossing," said Cheryl Fish-Parcham.

That bear, affectionately named Franklin because he was perched in a tree off Franklin Street, was ear-tagged. This bear doesn't appear to be tagged.

"You know that bear from last year, it had a whole year to grow. So I would expect it to be a larger bear at this point in time. And this bear looks like a young, yearling male to me," said Jonathan Trudeau, a black bear expert with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Heritage Service. "I know it's really exciting that there's a bear in the area, and a lot of people want to see the bear, but please do your best to leave the bear alone. Know it's still a wild animal. We want the bear to move through naturally and kind of get itself out of this situation on its own. The last thing we want to do is have to handle an animal."

FOX 5 documented Franklin's brush with fame, his eventual capture and later release in the wilds of Western Maryland.

"It was actually kind of fun. Franklin became the mascot of the neighborhood."

Trudeau says this neighborhood's woods and parkland make it easy for black bears to find their way here from other more hospitable parts of the region. Everybody's trash at the curb in the morning is an added attraction.

"What you and I see as discarded waste, our trash can full of last night's leftover meal, a bear sees as a high-calorie, really easy-to-get food that they can get a lot of energy from in a quick, very quick manner," said Trudeau.