MINNEAPOLIS - Authorities shot and killed a 250-pound black bear after it wandered into a heavily populated recreation area on Lake Minnetonka.
Homeowners called 911 reporting the bear walking near Shadywood Road and Sunset Drive on Saturday.
The bear later entered the Coffee Cove Shorefishing area and the volleyball courts next to Lord Fletcher's.
"All of a sudden you see the bear run along the volleyball net line," Mike Wilczynski says.
Wilczynski is a radio DJ for Buz'n 102.9 and says he was at Lord Fletcher's when the bear showed up.
"You definitely don't go, 'Hey, Fletcher's, we're going to see a bear today,'" Wilczynski laughs.
Orono police say the bear ran across the street in front of Lord Fletcher's and was heading toward a neighborhood when the DNR decided to take action.
"That's when we heard two pops and that was it," Wilczynski says.
Authorities shot and killed the bear.
Greg Salo, a lieutenant with the Department of Natural Resources, says the bear was a “public safety threat” and that the best option was shooting and killing the bear to eliminate the threat immediately.
“A tranquilizer probably wouldn’t have been considered, just because of where the bear was in proximity to the public," Salo said. "And bears don’t always go down with a sedative. They may run for a while, so it comes with dangers."
The bear's meat was donated to a family in need.
Salo says every year bears are spotted in the metro.
Over the weekend in Chaska, neighbors snapped a picture of another bear roaming the area.
Salo says if a bear has no fear of humans, shows no sign of leaving the area and is wandering around in the daytime, the public’s safety is in danger.
He says they shoot and kill at least one bear every year.
Per DNR policy, not every officer carries a tranquilizer. The officers responding on Saturday were not authorized to carry a tranquilizer.
“We had over 20 bear issues so far this year in the metro area, and 99 percent of those were resolved by people giving the bear space, letting it leave on its own,” said Salo.
He says if you see a bear, report it to the DNR and leave it alone.
Also, bring your bird feeders and garbage cans inside at night to avoid having a bear linger in your neighborhood.
Minnesota has an estimated 12,000 to 15,000 bears.