JOHN COFFELTEditor

A large black bear has wandered its way into the city of Manchester Saturday, June 24, causing quite a stir in the Royal Court area of town.

According to a statement by Manchester Police Department, the bear has been inside our jurisdiction for at least 24 hours.

“Be mindful that this animal is outside of its normal habitat and could be dangerous. Do not approach the bear, even for pictures or video. If you wish to view the bear, please do so from a safe distance,” the department announced.

More information from the department was not available by press time.

Bears, are not common to the area but have been seen occasionally area near the Cumberland Plateau.

Most of Sunday afternoon social media was abuzz with sightings of the bear. Early on the animal was spotted before sunrise in the industrial park. By noon it had made its way to the backyards around Hills Chapel.

The flurry of social media posts led site administrators on the Manchester, TN, Forum to request that people stop posting bear photos to the site.

“TWRA (Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency) said stop the Bear posts because people are tracking and following it and they are afraid someone will get too close or try to feed it and it will go after someone. So they said to leave it alone, don’t track it so it can move through the area back to the plateau from where it probably came from. Pick up food sources. So please don’t post about it,” said site administrator R Jones Jr.

The TWRA says to never approach a bear.

Bears will almost always find an escape route if they are left alone.

In the event a bear approaches you in town, “Shout and throw sticks or rocks in the vicinity of the bear to encourage flight once an escape route has been established.”

“Females with cubs will often climb a tree to for escape cover; never surround a tree holding any bear, especially a female with cubs,” according to the TWRA.

“Locate and remove the lure that caused the bear to come into your area. There is almost always a safe escape route when bears enter towns. Crowd control is the initial concern as the behavior of a cornered bear can be unpredictable. Immediately report to the TWRA or local police any sightings of bears within areas of human population centers,” it reads.

Further information on the status of the bear was not available from the TWRA as of press time. For updates go to Manchestertimes.com.

John has been with the Manchester Times since May 2011. John has won Tennessee Press Association awards for Best News Photo and placed in numerous other categories. John is a 1994 graduate of Tullahoma High School, a graduate of Motlow State Community College and earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from Middle Tennessee State University. He lives in Tullahoma, enjoys painting, dancing and exploring the outdoors.