Bear on the loose in Selma, police say

SELMA, Calif. (KFSN) -- Things got a little grizzly when a Selma officer caught a bear on camera.

"Our officers aren't really trained for wildlife of that nature." Selma Police Department's Andrew Guzman.

Authorities said they received their first call about the animal around 4:30 Friday morning.

Then two more calls pinpointed its location at Family Fellowship Church.

The mammal ran through the parking lot, leaving paw prints behind and damaging a container before getting away.

"Just north of that location, it enters into a small residential area and eventually agriculture or open fields and what have you," said Guzman.

The bear hasn't been seen again after running through this open space less than a mile away from where it was caught on camera.

But seeing a bear on the Valley floor-- it left people in disbelief.

"I didn't know if it was perhaps a senior, a high school senior prank. Some kid dressed up in a bear suit, just out to do something, but once it started running, and I saw the bear, I could tell it was real," said Family Fellowship Church Pastor Dale Davis.

As a precaution, the preschool at the church kept its kids inside on Friday.

But why, of all places, was a bear in Selma? Was it looking for a new home in the city? Or was it planning to try out for the Selma Bears track team?

Krysten Kellum from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife said it's a simple answer.

"The bear is looking for food, it's looking for water," said Kellum.

Kellum believes the bear is a young male who has left his mother and is starting a life of his own.

She adds the mammal has most likely left Selma and is heading back to the mountains.

"We've got CDFW personnel close by if there's another sighting. We're ready to go out there and help the bear find its own way back." said Kellum.

If a bear happens to come within city limits again, Kellum says it's best to secure trash cans that have food waste inside. And you'll want to keep pets and their food indoors as well.

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