By all accounts, at the root of recent sightings in Butler County is a success story: the comeback of the black bear in Pennsylvania.

It’s also the root of a problem: more bears, less room for them to roam and more chances to rub shoulders with people.

They may look cute and cuddly to some, but the American black bear is Pennsylvania’s apex predator: a ball of fur, fat and muscle that can grow as large as 800 pounds.

That is far, far larger than the bears that have reportedly been sighted in areas like Mars and Adams Township — most of which appear to be young adult animals that have recently been disentangled from sows and are now searching for territories of their own.

The hopes of both residents and state Game Commission officials are that these animals will move through the population centers where they have been spotted and settle in rural areas, where they are much less likely to come in contact with people, pets, and temptations like garbage cans, bird feeders and other man-made smorgasbords.

This is not a problem that is going to go away anytime soon. The Game Commission estimates that about 20,000 black bears live in Pennsylvania today — more than four times the state’s bear population in the 1970s.

So if residents want to help ensure bears don’t become a routine sight in neighborhoods across southern Butler County, it behooves everyone to follow the advice of experts: keep your trash locked up, your pet indoors, and don’t make your property a target for young bears searching for a comfortable place to make a home for themselves.

Pennsylvania’s expansive wilderness and the wild animals that call it home are some of our state’s greatest resources, and we are thrilled that the black bear has made such a vigorous comeback. Glimpsing them in the wild can be a thrilling experience.

But some things, like oil and water, simply don’t mix — and there’s no room for these animals in densely populated areas. It’s up to everyone to ensure they don’t find succor here and begin making themselves a nuisance.