A jogger spotted a black bear Sunday morning near the University of St. Thomas’ campus in St. Paul.
The bear was seen just off Mississippi River Boulevard, according to a Twitter post by the university’s public safety office.
The sighting occurred shortly before 8 a.m. near Summit Avenue and the boulevard, which borders the heavily wooded river gorge.
The report follows two other bear sightings in St. Paul earlier this summer. The first, on June 14, was in the Battle Creek area on the East Side, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources’ black bear tracking web page. The second, on June 18, was in the parking garage of downtown’s Union Depot.
The St. Thomas tweet referred to the DNR’s website, which gives advice on black bear encounters and notes that the animals rarely pose a threat to humans.
“Knowing how to behave when encountering bears and how rare bear attacks actually are can keep you safe and provide peace-of-mind,” the DNR says. “Although bears are large and powerful animals, a wild Minnesota black bear is normally shy and scared of people — even bears that are two to three times heavier than an average person.”
