Black Bear Hit On Indiana Interstate

NEW ALBANY, Ind.  — The Indiana Department of Natural Resources has confirmed a car struck a black bear on a southern Indiana highway.

The agency said wildlife biologists confirmed the animal was a bear Monday afternoon, based on information gathered by conservation officers.

Black bears are rare in Indiana . The DNR says that before 2015, when a black bear entered the state from Michigan, the last confirmed report of a black bear in Indiana was in the 1870s. In 2016, a black bear was confirmed in southern Indiana’s Harrison, Washington and Clark counties.

It says the bear was struck on Interstate 64 near mile marker 121 in the New Albany area at 8 p.m. Sunday. The injured bear wandered into heavy brush after the collision.

New Albany police say the driver wasn’t injured.