Young black bear wanders through city limits of Alexandria, Minn.

Alexandria, Minn. — A bear passing through town might not create a huge stir in its traditional range, but it’s a bit of a talker when it happens in central Minnesota.

Residents of Alexandria in Douglas County shared videos and photos on social media of a young bear moving through city limits on Wednesday, May 20.

Mitch Lawler worked for years as a DNR field officer in Alexandria and now is a Marine Unit Conservation Officer in the area. He first heard about the bear that morning before photos of it showed up on the internet.

Lawler lives by Lake Victoria in northeast Alexandria, and he received a text message from his neighbor at about 8:15 a.m.

“We kind of share the same backyard,” Lawler said. “There’s some trees but we can see each other’s houses through the trees. He texted me kind of a crummy video and said, ‘I was in my office and I just saw a bear run through our backyards.’ It wasn’t good video but I said, ‘That’s a black bear.’ It was moving east to west.”

Reports started showing up on social media a couple of hours later. The bear was seen around New Life Christian Church and near Anderson Florist & Greenhouse in northeast Alexandria. Lawler saw a Facebook post of it not far from Juettner Motors, west of those locations.

“I would say it probably made its way from (Highway) 82 East kind of over by Lake Victoria where we live all the way to Juettner Motors in about a four-, five-hour timeframe,” Lawler said. “I think it wandered into the wrong area and then was really confused as to, ‘Where are the woods? Why am I getting more towards people?’”

Andrew Tri, the DNR’s Bear Project Leader, said this bear is likely a yearling dispersing after it was booted by its mother during a family breakup. Cubs will stay with their mother until they are about 17 months old before they are forced to leave in the spring.

Lawler hasn’t received any more calls on the bear since the day it was spotted and says he anticipates it has moved on to a more rural setting.

“It definitely was moving and I’m sure it didn’t plan on going through town,” Lawler said. “It probably just got trapped by the lakes and then had to pick a route and go.”

Lawler called the incident surprising, but not shocking.

“Most of the time our bear sightings around here are by (Lake Carlos) State Park,” he said. “A couple of years ago there was a sow with two cubs over by Nelson that was seen by several people. Much more spaced out, rural type feel than right through town. The fact this one wandered right through town was strange.”

Bears expanding in state

Minnesota’s bear population is expanding in overall numbers, as well as geographically.

The population is estimated at 13,000 to 18,000. Most of those live in the state’s northern third, but more and more bruins are being seen further south.

“In recent years, we’ve had sightings in southern and southeast Minnesota that haven’t happened in a century,” Tri told Outdoor News for a story that published in April.

Alexandria is located in the DNR’s no-quota area. That means a person can purchase an over-the-counter hunting license during the season (Sept. 1-Oct. 18 in 2026), but bears are not abundant enough here where it’s necessary to manage their numbers through hunting.

Hunters do not have to travel too far from Alexandria to find a huntable bear population. The town is less than an hour’s drive to bear management unit 45 where Wadena and Little Falls serve as the southern border of that hunting zone.

The DNR made 500 hunting permits available in BMU 45 for the 2025 season. That was a jump from the 350 permits available in 2023 and 2024. Hunters shot a total of 187 bears in BMU 45 during the 2025 season and 199 bears in 2024, which was a record high for the unit.

A recent story from the Echo Press Newspaper in Alexandria detailed how security cameras captured video of a sow and two young cubs this April from Douglas County.

Lawler said he would have no idea how many bears are around the Alexandria area, but it’s not unusual for him to hear about a bear sighting or two each year.

“That’s not how many I physically see but how many people around Alexandria tell me or send me pictures of them,” he said. “One or a couple per year in the Douglas County area is common. Several years ago there was a big one hit by a car down by the Pope County line. I’d say the population is still very low but there are a couple around. That’s been proven.”

If you see a bear…

Lawler said anyone who sees a bear should keep a safe distance and let it continue on its way.

“Definitely don’t advance towards it. Don’t do anything that would make it feel threatened,” he said. “Keep your pets on leashes if you’re concerned. Then of course, bears follow food sources. If you have a food source, whether it’s a garbage can or bird feeder or a big pail of dog food out, that all emits scent. Just put food sources away for several days in a row now if you’re concerned. That really does minimize the risk of anything coming through.”

Visit the DNR’s “Report a bear sighting” web page for information on how to report a sighting and to view a map of where bears have been seen outside their traditional range in Minnesota. For more information on avoiding conflict with bears, visit the Be BearWise website.