Sept. 30 (UPI) — An Arizona wildlife photographer who failed to find any interesting wildlife in a state park ended up capturing footage of a bear in an unexpected place — a grocery store.
The Oro Valley Police Department confirmed a bear wandered into the Fry’s grocery store at First and Oracle in Oro Valley around 6:30 a.m. Monday.
Wildlife photographer Charlie Alolkoy said he was returning from an unsuccessful trip to Catalina State Park when he stopped into the store.
“I could hear some shouting, and someone said, ‘Hey, there’s a bear in the store,’ and I’m like, ‘Yeah, right,’ I wasn’t buying it,” Alolkoy told KOLD-TV.
Alolkoy went into the store and ended up capturing video of a young bear running through the aisles.
“Low and behold I get the biggest wildlife I’ve seen up to this point,” Alolkoy told KVOA-TV.
The bear fled the store and was spotted outside a nearby Starbucks, but the bruin was nowhere to be found by the time police and Arizona Game and Fish officials arrived on the scene.
Witnesses said the bear was not acting aggressive and no injuries were reported.
Police said it was not clear whether the animal was the same bear that sparked a shelter-in-place at an Oro Valley school when it was spotted near Rancho Vistoso and Woodburn a few days earlier.
Mark Freiberg with Arizona Game and Fish said the sudden spike in bear sightings could be a result of recent dry weather.
“What that typically equates to is less food resources on the ground for wildlife and bears specifically,” Freiberg said.
