Bears on the Move: Nine Sightings Reported Across the St. Cloud Area as DNR Urges Residents to Be BearWise

(KNSI) – Since the start of May, black bears have been turning up across central Minnesota, and the Department of Natural Resources says now is the time for residents to bear-proof their property.

At least nine bear sightings have been reported to the DNR’s online Bear Tracker in the St. Cloud area over the past month. The most recent came Tuesday, June 2nd, when two bears were spotted near Rice. A bear was seen near the Wapicada Golf Course on May 29th, and the St. Stephen area logged three sightings, two on May 17th and one on May 25th. Another bear turned up near Opole on May 14th, and two were reported near Sartell on May 1st.

The cluster of local sightings lines up with what the DNR is seeing statewide. Bear Project Leader Andrew Tri told KNSI spring and early summer are prime time for bears to show up where people do not expect them, and that central Minnesota sits right on the leading edge of expanding bear country. “We are trying to figure out where bears are currently living to update those range maps. It seems like they’re moving farther west and south over the last couple decades.”

If the idea of running into one has you nervous, Tri says the odds are firmly in your favor. Minnesota averages zero bear attacks in a typical year. Since 1983, only about 13 encounters have sent people to the hospital, and the state has never recorded a fatal black bear attack. “These critters are scaredy cats. So, my guess is that most of the time those bears are going to be more scared of us than we are of them,” Tri said, describing black bears as naturally cautious animals that would rather avoid people.

The bigger issue, Tri says, is a bear’s nose. Black bears can smell food from more than a mile away, and once one learns an easy meal is waiting in a neighborhood, it tends to come back. He pointed to six simple BearWise steps: do not feed or approach bears, keep trash, recycling, and compost secured, take down bird feeders from April through October, clean and store grills, avoid feeding pets outside, and let your neighbors know when a bear is in the area.

That includes hummingbird feeders. “We call that bear Kool-Aid in the business,” Tri said.

For anyone heading outdoors, the advice is to make noise on the trail, keep dogs leashed, and travel in groups when picking berries so a bear is never caught off guard. A small dog that bolts toward a bear and then races back can trigger a chase, putting people and bears closer together than anyone wants.

Tri encourages residents who spot a bear to report it through the DNR’s online system, which people can find by searching “MNDNR report a bear sighting.” Those reports help biologists track where bears are living as the animals push into new parts of the state.

He noted that Minnesota is home only to black bears, which can show up in shades from black to chocolate brown to blonde. The last wild grizzly in the state was recorded back in 1858 in Beltrami County.

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