Wildlife managers captured and relocated a juvenile black bear Wednesday after the animal walked through down-town Jackson and toward the National Elk Refuge.

Officials learned of the bear at about 8 p.m. that night from someone who reported they saw the yearling male near Miller Park on the west side of downtown, said Mark Gocke, Wyoming Game and Fish Department spokesman.

“Then it moved east and apparently crossed [North] Cache and ended up over by the [Teton County/Jackson Recreation Center],” Gocke said.

One eyewitness who was at his front door near the Kudar Motel reported seeing the bear being “chased by tourists with cameras.”

Game and Fish bear management officer Mike Boyce found the bear in a neighborhood near St. John’s Medical Center. The bear eventually climbed a tree, and Boyce tranquilized the animal with a dart gun. He then captured it and relocated it to the Cliff Creek Drainage in Hoback Canyon.

“It looked in good condition,” said Gocke. “It didn’t appear to be food stressed.”

Officials did not know if the bear had eaten human food and if it had become used to feeding near people, although there is a reasonably good chance that it had.

Unlike grizzly bear cubs, which usually stay with their mothers for at least two years, it’s not unusual for black bears to be weaned from mothers when still 1 year old, Gocke said.

“It very well may have been weaned off already,” said Gocke. “Even cubs of the year have been able to survive if weaned off this time of year.”

This isn’t the first time bears have taken a similar path through Jackson, Gocke said.

 “It’s a reminder that we’re living right in the heart of good bear habitat,” he said, explaining that, even in town, it’s a good idea to secure human food sources such as garbage. “From here on into the fall, natural forage will become more limited and bears sometimes start to turn their attention to developed areas.”