Two black bear sightings reported at Sydney hiking trail within two days

Advertisement 1 This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Breadcrumb Trail Links HomeAtlantic CanadaCape BretonNewsNova Scotia Two black bear sightings reported at Sydney hiking trail within two days 'It’s important to recognize that we do live near black bears' Author of the article: By Nicole Sullivan Published Sep 22, 2026 Last updated 37 minutes ago 2 minute read In this Postmedia file photo from Sept. 17, a black bear is shown in a tree located near the downtown area of Napanee, Ont. The Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources is monitoring a Sydney trail system after two reports of black bear sightings in two days. PHOTO BY POSTMEDIA FILE Article content Users of a popular nature trail in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality have reported two sightings of a black bear within a couple of days. Article content The first sighting of a black bear on the Baille Ard Nature Trail system in Sydney was believed to have been discovered on Saturday morning and described as large by the person who saw it. Article content Article content A second sighting was reported on Sunday, according to a witness account. Article content Article content Both sightings were also posted on the Friends of The Baille Ard Forest‘s social media page. Article content BLACK BEAR CONFIRMED Article content Maureen Cameron-MacMillan, regional biologist with the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources, said they don’t know at this time if the sightings are of the same bear or two different ones. Article content “I don’t want to speculate on how many bears, but it was a black bear,” Cameron-MacMillan said during a phone interview Tuesday afternoon. Article content “We don’t have a whole lot of detail on the observations, just that they were sent to us and we did go out to take a look and we didn’t find any evidence of (a) bear.” Article content MONITORING SITUATION Article content Although Natural Resources acknowledged that they didn’t find evidence of any bears, the department is still monitoring the situation and are asking people to report any bear sightings. Article content “It’s important to recognize that we do live near black bears. They are native to the area and they do like forested habitats,” Cameron-MacMillan said. Article content Article content “This time of year, in particular with black bears, they’re coming up for the winter, I would say. It’s not terribly unusual to see them around this time of year.…