Wildlife crews and police officers were called to a Provo neighborhood on Wednesday afternoon following reports of a young bear wandering through a residential area. The animal was spotted in a backyard located just north of Splash Summit Waterpark. Local residents received alerts from the city advising them to stay vigilant and secure their homes.
Authorities from the Provo Police Department and the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources initiated a search of the area. One resident reported that animal control officers instructed her to bring her children inside while they investigated the sightings. After several hours of searching the vicinity, officers were unable to locate the bear. Officials believe the animal returned to the nearby mountains.
This incident marks the third bear sighting in Utah within the last three weeks. Earlier this month, a mother bear and two cubs were spotted high in a tree in Mapleton, approximately ten miles from Provo. Additionally, a bear was safely captured and relocated after wandering into the Ephraim city limits in late July.
Wildlife experts note that drought conditions across the state are a significant factor in these events. Since roughly 90 percent of a black bear's diet consists of plants and vegetation, the lack of these natural resources forces the animals to search for alternative food sources. Bears are increasingly entering neighborhoods to forage through garbage or find food left at residential properties. Biologists expect these encounters to persist if the current dry conditions continue to limit natural food availability.