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WINSTON-SALEM (MCT) — A bear that likely wandered down from the mountains to the northwestern part of the city was shot to death because it was in a populated area and posed a threat, Police Chief Scott Cunningham said Tuesday.

"We didn't think it was worth it to wait for the bear to become hostile," Cunningham said.

But a state wildlife biologist said that the bear would have passed through quickly once it realized that it wouldn't find enough food to sustain its diet.

"Bears won't stay there," said Colleen Olfenbuttel, a biologist with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission. "It just doesn't offer the habitat they need. They may show up for a few days or week, and as long as people aren't feeding them incidentally, they'll keep moving on.

"I've never heard of a situation where a bear walks through the neighborhood, and it escalates into aggression," Olfenbuttel said.

Officers used rifles to shoot the bear after it ransacked a bird feeder in the backyard of a house on Kramer Court, near the intersection of Robinhood and Shattalon roads, just after 8 p.m. Monday.

The bear was between 100 and 150 pounds and about 5 feet 6 inches tall. Olfenbuttel guessed that it was probably 1 or 2 years old.

Rudy Kane said he and his wife, Valia, noticed a bear in their backyard on Kramer Court about 1 p.m. They called 911 and were transferred to an animal-control dispatcher, who told them to stay away from the bear.

About 8 o'clock, Kane saw another bear trying to get food from one of his bird feeders. Kane said he stayed inside while officers with guns and flashlights entered his yard to get the bear. Officers later told him that they shot the bear. The wounded animal tried to escape by climbing about 50 feet up a nearby tree. But it fell to the ground.

Kane said that the wounded bear wandered next door, where Hope Pirtle lives. Pirtle said that the bear died next to a chain-link fence in her backyard.

She said that the bear's death was unfortunate, but she believes that the police did the right thing.

"It's really very sad," she said.

Carey Bostic, a law-enforcement supervisor with the wildlife commission, said that his officers are told to kill a bear only if a person is in imminent danger.

"Very seldom do we see imminent danger," Bostic said. "But what you perceive and I perceive as imminent danger are two different things."

Bostic's agency is investigating the shooting, which is standard procedure when a game animal is killed out of season. Although there is a bear-hunting season in some parts of the state, bears are protected in the Piedmont.

From what he has learned so far, Bostic said, the bear was not threatening anyone or acting aggressively. However, he did not second-guess the Winston-Salem Police Department's decision to shoot it.

Cunningham said that the police department would investigate the shooting, which is standard procedure whenever an officer fires a weapon on duty.

The encounter in Winston-Salem comes amid other bear sightings in Guilford and Yadkin counties.

Olfenbuttel said that bears are on the move this time of year for several reasons:

* Young bears have left their mothers and are trying to establish new territories. Forsyth County is on the edge of prime bear habitat, so it's no surprise to Olfenbuttel that a few bears are passing through.

* Food is not as abundant in late spring and summer, and that forces bears to venture south and east in search of soft berries, such as cherries and blackberries.

* When such food isn't readily available, bears rely on their keen sense of smell, which could lead them to garbage cans or grills.

* Male bears are more active this time of year because it is the breeding season.

Bears usually travel along a forested corridor or along a river or stream, Olfenbuttel said. As those areas are being developed, more people are encountering bears.

People who encounter a bear should back away quietly and go inside their houses. Pets should be taken inside, too.

Some neighborhoods in western North Carolina where bears are much more abundant have adapted. Residents in these areas don't fill bird feeders, keep trash cans in their garage, and they clean their grills.

"Bears are like all wildlife," Olfenbuttel said. "They think with their stomachs."