Over the past decade bear sightings have been a pressing issue in the minds of Jefferson County residents.

Social media commenters say bears are still turning up in Trussville, and back in 2020, for instance, Trussville’s Skip Pennington posted a video on his blog of a black bear wandering through his backyard, as reported by AL.com’s Greg Garrison.

But over the last three years – judging by social media — it might appear that fewer people in the region are getting visits from Alabama’s state mammal, despite recent efforts from researchers to help grow the bear population.

That doesn’t mean they’ve left central Alabama, officials said. In fact, there are actually more bear sightings statewide than there used to be – again, based partly on social media accounts.

“We estimate that there are less than 500 bears statewide,” said Marianne Gauldin of the Alabama Department of Conservation & Natural Resources’ Division of Wildlife & Freshwater Fisheries. “…Bear sightings are on the rise, but this can perhaps be partially attributed to our increased cultural use of social media and sharing information that used to only be shared neighbor-to-neighbor. Bears also come and go from Georgia.”