Two bears killed in separate wrecks.

Byline: Rebecca Nolan The Register-Guard

Two black bears were killed on separate Lane County highways this week when they wandered into traffic.

One bear was hit early Tuesday on Highway 126 near Finn Rock, and the other died Wednesday morning on Highway 58 west of Oakridge.

"I would definitely say that a bear wandering onto the highway is a fairly uncommon event in these parts," state Department of Transportation spokesman Joe Harwood said. "We have people here that have been around for 20, 25 years, and no one that I've talked to today can remember a black bear being hit."

According to department records, however, the last Lane County traffic crash involving a black bear happened last year on Highway 126 east of Vida. Before that, the most recent incident was in 2002 on Highway 126 in McKenzie Bridge.

Sgt. Tom Hulett, head of the Oregon State Police fish and wildlife division's Springfield-based south valley team, said the bear deaths were probably just coincidence and bad luck.

"The bears are active this time of year," he said. "They're trying to feed themselves and fatten up for hibernation, so it wouldn't be that unusual for them to cross the road."

Oregon is home to about 25,000 to 30,000 black bears, according to the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.

The driver in the first crash was going east on 126 at 1:45 a.m. Tuesday when the bear lumbered onto the road. The Saturn sedan hit the animal and ended up in a ditch, police said.

The bear died. The driver was not injured.

The second crash happened Wednesday morning on a dark, winding stretch of Highway 58. Again, the driver escaped unharmed, but the bear died.