Black bear roams through Jesup yards

A black bear was seen early Thursday in Jesup, ambling across backyards and resting in a tree, according to the Department of Natural Resources and local law enforcement officials.

The bear was last seen leaving town about 6:40 a.m., heading east through a cornfield, said Buchanan County Deputy Denny Caldwell.

Rumors that the bear had been tranquilized and captured are false, Caldwell said.

Caldwell, responding to a call from Jesup police, said he first saw the bear walking around town about 5:30 a.m. It later climbed a tree along Ainsworth Street, Jesup police Sgt. Chris Boos said.

The bear has been spotted farther north in Iowa several times during the past two weeks, according to Joe Wilkinson, a spokesman for the DNR.

DNR biologists believe it is a young male that left its original home in Minnesota or Wisconsin, seeking to establish its own territory or to find a mate, Wilkinson said.

During the bear's Jesup visit, officers tried to keep people away from it, but “quite a few people came by to see it and photograph it,” Caldwell said.

Caldwell, who was within 15 feet of the bear, described it as full grown. Biologists think it is 2 or 3 years old, he said.

A black bear is spotted in northern Iowa at least every other year, Wilkinson said. “If people leave them alone, they will generally make their way back home after they decide Iowa does not really offer a suitable territory,” he said.

Here's

a photo of the bear, submitted to KWWL-TV by a viewer.