This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Salt Lake City officials are urging hikers and hunters to keep an eye out for a bear in City Creek Canyon.
A hunter spotted the bear Sunday near picnic site 23, about 4 miles up the canyon, said watershed manager Patrick Nelson.
"He heard rustling in a bush," Nelson said Friday. "A bear came out and walked toward him but ran away when it saw he was a person."
A bear also was spotted in City Creek Canyon in early July, likely driven there to forage during a drought. It is not known whether this is the same bear.
There is no effort to capture the bear, because it appears not to be habituated to humans.
But the city is posting signs warning canyon users to be cautious and responsible in what now may be bear country.
"[Sightings] aren't common," Nelson said, "but it sounds like they are probably out there."
Before this year's sightings, a bear was last spotted in City Creek Canyon in 2008 near picnic site 30, Nelson said.