DNR kills bear roaming around in north Minneapolis

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A black bear that seemed to be wounded was wandering through north Minneapolis Sunday. (Photo courtesy of Phillip Murphy)

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources fatally shot a black bear police had been tracking as it moved through a residential area of north Minneapolis on Sunday morning.

Around 10 a.m. Sunday, a Minneapolis Police spokesperson said officers were monitoring the bear, which had been wandering around north Minneapolis, and were working with the Department of Natural Resources.

Photos taken by Minneapolis resident Philip Murphy and posted to Facebook showed the animal moving through Cottage Park.

A black bear in Cottage Park in Minneapolis (Photo courtesy of Philip Murphy)

Another image showed an officer using a drone to monitor it. Images posted to Twitter appeared to show the animal scaling a fence, and sitting on a front porch.

Later, Murphy posted a video to Facebook saying DNR officers had shot the bear, and the footage showed officers loading the bear's body into the back of a pickup truck.

The DNR confirmed the incident in an email on Sunday, saying the bear was "dispatched" and the meat was donated to a Minnesota family.

According to a page on the agency's website, the DNR stopped relocating bears in 2000 because the bears just caused problems elsewhere. "Moving a problem bear can cause problems elsewhere because the bear is forced to find food in a new area, and often the easiest source of food in a foreign environment for a bear is birdseed or trash," the page says.