Wildlife like squirrels and birds are a pretty common sight when driving around town, but one Chilliwack motorist witnessed something a lot more substantial than a small animal earlier this week.
Darren Petkau was heading east along Wolfe Road when he saw an adult black bear wandering near Townsend Park.
It was “just a couple hundred yards away from people playing baseball,” he said.
The dash cam in his car snapped a photo as he drove past.
The bear can be seen walking near the chainlink fence which surrounds a Chilliwack Fire Department training facility and the new Rotary Service Building on the south side of Wolfe Road.
The sighting happened on the evening of Tuesday, Aug. 18, which falls within the same timeline as several other sightings of a black bear in Chilliwack.
On WildSafeBC’s ‘Wildlife Alert Reporting Program’ website, there were multiple sightings of a black bear about three kilometres away in the area of Young Road and Fourth Avenue between Aug. 17 and Aug. 20.
According to WildSafeBC, our province has some of the highest populations of black bears in the world with estimates ranging from 120,000 to 150,000 animals.
RELATED: VIDEO: Chilliwack man spots black bear, two cubs near Seabird Island
RELATED: VIDEO: Black bear hops backyard fence to say hello to Abbotsford family
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