430-pound black bear hit and killed by truck on California road, officials say
A large 430-pound bear was hit and killed by a truck on a Northern California road, wildlife officials said.
The bear had been walking in the road in the “early morning darkness” when the driver hit it, the Press Democrat reported. It was apparently still alive and walking around after the crash, but then it laid down on the shoulder and died, California Highway Patrol told the outlet.
California Department of Fish and Wildlife and CHP officials collected the male black bear carcass along River Road and Trenton Road in Sonoma County the morning after the crash April 29, the wildlife agency’s spokesperson told McClatchy News in an email.
The wildlife agency will use tooth and genetic samples to add to the department’s database and a necropsy is planned, spokesperson Krysten Kellum said.
Bear sightings in the area are uncommon, but “suitable bear habitat surrounds” populated areas in Sonoma County, Kellum said.
Male black bears usually weigh 150 to 400 pounds, “with some males weighing upwards of 500 pounds,” the CDFW says.
Many bears are killed on California roads, SFGATE reported.
“Black bears in California are expanding their range, including into areas north of San Francisco Bay,” CDFW spokesman Peter Tira told the outlet. “... We ask drivers to watch out for wildlife, particularly in the spring and at dawn and dusk when wildlife often are most active.”
Sonoma County is about an 80-mile drive north from San Francisco.
This story was originally published May 6, 2025 at 1:47 PM with the headline "430-pound black bear hit and killed by truck on California road, officials say."
