Ohio has had a wild 2025.
Black bears have appeared where they haven’t been seen for decades. Fishers were spotted near Cleveland for the first time in nearly two centuries. A bobcat was seen strolling through a nature preserve. And dozens of bald eagles flocked to and nested in the Buckeye State.
Many of these animals were once native to Ohio, but driven out of the state in the 1800s through hunting and loss of habitat. They are making a comeback, though, and are spreading throughout the state.
Here’s a look back at where these creatures have been seen around Ohio over the past year.
First black bear in 20 years spotted near Pataskala; tracks spotted in December snow
For the first time in more than 20 years, a black bear was spotted near Pataskala, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) confirmed in a June Facebook post. It was the first black bear sighting in Licking County since 2003, and the sixth in the county since 1993.
Black bears were considered gone from Ohio by the 1850s, according to ODNR, due to deforestation and hunting by Ohio settlers. However, they have been spotted wandering through the state more frequently as populations in Pennsylvania and West Virginia grow, according to the Ohio Black Bear Monitoring Report from November 2023. And they are making a small comeback, with an estimated in-state population between 50 and 100.
In December, a hunter spotted black bear tracks in the snow near Wayne National Forest in Southern Ohio.
Elsewhere around Ohio in 2025, a pickup struck a black bear in Richland County, about 14 miles south of Mansfield; it didn’t survive. Bears also were spotted outside Dayton, in Greater Cincinnati and in Gallia County in Southern Ohio. Two were spotted in Northeast Ohio, one in Geauga County and another in Streetsboro in Portage County.
Bald eagles, once an endangered species, flock to Lake Erie, Ohio rivers and waterways
Bald eagles flocked to Ohio in January 2025, a time of year when the birds start nesting and court.
More than 50 were spotted in Lorain County, near Lake Erie. Approximately 10 more were seen on Catawba Island. And another 50-plus were counted in the trees near Huron.
Elsewhere, about 35 bald eagles were counted in one spot in the Village of Sheffield, in Lorain County (west of Cleveland), as reported by Renate Erwin in the Birding Ohio Facebook group. In a different sighting, another 51 were counted.
Bald eagles had nearly vanished from the state, with four nesting pairs of bald eagles in 1979, per the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. By 2024, that number has grown to 841, per the ODNR Division of Wildlife.
The bird was removed from the federal endangered species list in 2007 and from Ohio’s list in 2012. However, they are still protected under the federal Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, according to ODNR. It is illegal to disturb bald eagles.
Fishers, rare mammals related to river otters, spotted nearl Cleveland for first time in nearly 200 years
Fishers also are continuing their comeback in Ohio, with one spotted near Cleveland for the first time in nearly 200 years.
A fisher, a mammal related to river otters and weasels, was caught on a wildlife camera earlier this year in a Cleveland Metropark, the agency shared on Instagram in December 2025. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife confirmed to Cleveland Metroparks that this sighting was the first in Cuyahoga County since the fishers disappeared from the state in the 1800s.
Fishers disappeared from Ohio by the mid-1800s, as settlers cleared their habitat and hunted them to near-extinction, according to Farm and Dairy. Since 2013, there have been more than 40 confirmed fisher sightings across several northeast Ohio counties (Ashtabula, Columbiana, Geauga, Trumbull, Mahoning, Portage, Lake, Jefferson, Harrison, and Tuscarawas), according to ODNR. Two-thirds of those — about 26 sightings — happened in the past three years.
A fisher found as roadkill in 2023 in Ashtabula County was confirmed to be pregnant in early 2024, confirmation that the animals are colonizing Ohio again, per ODNR. And in April 2024, another fisher was found as roadkill near Kent in Portage County, Ohio, the farthest west the animals had traveled into Ohio at that time. That fisher was the largest one collected in Ohio to date, weighing in at 13 pounds.
Bobcat caught on camera at Ohio nature preserve
A bobcat was caught on camera taking a stroll at the Richardson Forest Preserve in February 2025.
While bobcats are rare in Ohio, sightings have become more frequent in recent years, according to sightings data compiled by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.
Native to Ohio, bobcats were common in the state until overhunting and loss of habitat drove them away in the mid-1800s. Occasional sightings began ramping up in the early 2000s, as bobcat populations in neighboring states made their way back to Ohio.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Bears, bobcats and bald eagles, oh my. Ohio’s wild 2025 in wildlife
Reporting by Chad Murphy, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
