Street Closed, Residents Told to Stay Indoors After Black Bear, Cubs Seen Napping in Tree

Virginia officials have closed down a road in one neighborhood and instructed nearby residents to remain indoors after a black bear and three bear cubs were seen napping in a tree.

Chesapeake Animal Services said in a Facebook post Monday that entering the closed area either on foot or by car could worsen an already stressful circumstance for the bears, but giving them space and quiet will help them leave without incident.

"Black bears can be unpredictable, especially when sows (mothers) have cubs," Chesapeake Animal Services said in the post. "This is an extremely stressful situation for the bears, so it's important to stay away from the area. That includes driving past the site."

The bears were spotted in a tree near Western Branch High School Monday morning, spurring officials to close down Bruin Drive in Chesapeake because of the location and number of bears.

The Facebook post noted that while the bears "are beautiful to look at, it is extremely important for people to stay away from them." Chesapeake Animal Services said that the bears will only leave when it is calm and people stop encroaching on their space.

"We must all do our part to safely co-exist with our wild neighbors," the post said.

Gray Anderson, the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources' chief of wildlife, told the Virginian-Pilot that the bears entering the Chesapeake neighborhood was likely an isolated incident and the fact that they had climbed a tree wasn't an issue in and of itself.

"Our biggest issue is people feeding the bears or bears behaving in an unnatural way. So we encourage people to just leave them alone," he said.

Chesapeake Police spokesman Leo Kosinski said dispatchers were first alerted to a possible bear sighting around 2 a.m. Monday, the Virginian-Pilot reported. Later that morning, officers saw the bears napping in the tree and closed off the area, he said.

Conservation officers with the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources were responding to assess the situation.

Bears are very good climbers, and these four will likely climb down and walk away when they're ready, said Anderson, the wildlife chief.

"From what I've been told, a momma bear and three very healthy young cubs have made their way up a tree in a residential neighborhood," Anderson said. "Our expectation is, if we leave them alone they'll climb down and go back to their natural habitat."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.