A bear that was ambling through a New Jersey beach town was killed by police when it headed for a busy street, officials said Sunday.
The bear was spotted Saturday evening in Union Beach near Dock and Third Street, Union Beach police said in a Facebook post.
Officers monitored the bear for four hours, then it turned onto the busier Florence Avenue, police said.
The bear was then euthanized.
State officials said they believed it wasn't the bear's first foray into a populated area.
"The bear that was euthanized last night, we believe was last tagged in Stillwater Township in Sussex County two years ago," said Bob Considine of the Division of Fish and Wildlife.
Union Beach said they had requested that state officials tranquilize the animal before they killed it. But state officials said they don't tranquilize bears during nighttime hours "out of concern for staff safety and public safety."
