From moose and bobcats to a small population of black bears, Mount Desert Island has more elusive wildlife than many people realize.

Carrie Jones

Aug 06, 2026

The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by Coastal Kayaking Tours and Acadia Bike.

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MOUNT DESERT ISLAND—The tourists and some locals were adamant on the social media post: there are no moose on Mount Desert Island.

There never have been, some said.

There never will be, others asserted.

“No moose on MDI,” one man insisted.

The only problem was that just a week earlier, Sheridy Olson had posted a photo of a moose in her back yard in Otter Creek. Her son’s, Lucus Olson, game cam image caught the sighting in the early morning on July 20.

In the 2010s there were multiple moose sightings around the island. In the past decade one headed through downtown Bar Harbor, down Ledgelawn Avenue, Park Street, through the ballfields, and down lower Main Street. Back in 2008, one strolled by the Tremont Consolidated School.

The truth is, though, that there are plenty of wildlife that visits or lives on Mount Desert Island and that can include bear, moose, and bobcat. Though the animals aren’t sighted as much as deer, many animals on the shyer side make Mount Desert Island its home, or—like a lot of human animals—visit.

However, you aren’t likely to see them.

In 2012, the Mount Desert Islander’s Dick Broom interviewed biologist Bruce Connery who said that typically Moose wade across Mount Desert Narrows or the Trenton side of the Narrows or from Lamoine to Hadley Point to get to the island.

In 2011, a moose was spotted at Hadley’s Point Campground and in Tremont.

According to Acadia National Park’s webpage, “There are several reasons why there is no established population of moose in Acadia. First, the geography of Mount Desert Island (MDI), where the majority of Acadia is located, is not desirable to a moose. The only ways to access the island are to walk across the motor road bridge or to swim. While moose are proficient swimmers, they are deterred by strong currents and the island’s mudflats. In addition, there are limited areas on the island in which moose would thrive, and because of their large size there would not be enough room to support a population. Ranger Dusty Warner, one of Acadia’s veteran rangers, has only seen 3 live moose in the 20 years he has worked here. These moose were all transients; in other words, they had wandered over and did not stay on the island for very long.”

In 2022, a car hit a moose on the Eagle Lake Road in Bar Harbor. Another had been hit by the Regency Hotel on Route 3 years earlier. A young moose that had been spotted multiple times by Sargent Drive in Northeast Harbor ended up wintering at Acadia Wildlife Center in 2002 because of concerns for her health.

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BEARS

Last year, despite the numerous photos of black bears in Acadia National Park, Town Hill, Mount Desert, Otter Creek, and Bar Harbor, many insisted that there were no bears on Mount Desert Island.

Though there were a plethora of sightings in 2025, the black bear chatter in 2026 has been much quieter.

“The chances of seeing a black bear in Acadia are only slightly higher than seeing a moose. Unlike moose, there is a small permanent population of black bears on the island,” the park states.

However, in February 2026, the Schoodic Institute’s Molly Donlan wrote, “Historically rare, black bear sightings in Acadia and the surrounding area have increased in the last few years, and most notably during the summer of 2025, on both Mount Desert Island and Schoodic Peninsula. Changes in bear population and behavior have prompted Acadia’s wildlife biologists and collaborating researchers to update what they know about bears and the resources bears use within the park.”

The state estimates that there are approximately 25,000-27,000 black bears in all of Maine.

Now, College of the Atlantic researchers have begun a multi-year study on the island’s black bears and are asking for the community (both residents and visitors) to help.

According to a press release distributed on Monday, August 3, COA Kim M. Wentworth Chair in Environmental Studies Dr. Brittany Slabach, ’09, are focusing on “population size, movement patterns, and genetic relationships of black bears on MDI, where sightings have increased over the past decade.”

“This work fills a major information gap on MDI,” Dr. Slabach said. “We’re hoping the community will help us by reporting observations so we can have a clearer picture of the ecology of bears on the island.”

“We need to understand how many bears are here, how they’re related, and how they move across the island’s landscape in order to support both public safety and long‑term conservation within the park,” Dr. Slabach said.

Dr. Slabach and the college are working with the National Park Service and the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (MDIFW) on the project.

“We want people to be aware that bears are present on the island and to follow state guidelines for reducing potential conflicts,” Dr. Slabach said. Any conflicts or property damage should be reported to the state.

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BOBCATS

On July 30, Darron Collins saw a bobcat on the Eagle Lake Road. Yes, he was 100 percent sure it was a bobcat. Yes, it was at a site pretty close to downtown Bar Harbor, he said.

The sighting came early morning, the cat was tawny, walking with swagger like a lion.

Earl Brechlin has captured numerous wildlife on a McFarland Hill area game camera in Bar Harbor. Those captures have included the elusive bobcats.

There were a plethora of bobcat sightings on the island in 2018.

Bobcats are shy, but there have been sightings other than Collins’ and Brechlin’s. In September 2025, Tom St.Germain, of Bar Harbor, was lucky enough to see a bobcat family of four. A couple of weeks earlier he’d spotted one cooling off in the bottom of a muddy creek. Both sightings were in Acadia National Park.

According to Maine Inland Fish and Wildlife, “Home range size of bobcats in Maine varies from about 36 square miles for adult males and about 18 square miles for adult females.”

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LINKS TO LEARN MORE

What to do if you encounter a bear.

Bear sightings in Acadia can be reported via this webpage or iNaturalist.

To see flora, fauna, and all sorts of sightings from community scientists, head to the Acadia iNaturalist page.

You can report non‑emergency bear sightings through COA’s wildlife survey at go.coa.edu/bearreport.

Email reports can also be emailed to MDIbearproject@gmail.com.

Conflicts, threats to public safety, or property damage should continue to be reported directly to the National Park Service or MDIFW. The MDIFW directory can be found at maine.gov/ifw.

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