A wayward black bear that moved through several local counties over the past week is most likely dead.

An Iowa Department of Natural Resources officer shot a 200-pound male black bear near Hamburg, Iowa, last week after it displayed aggressive behavior and refused to leave a residential area.

Officials can’t confirm if the bear is the same one sighted in Daviess County two weeks ago. However, a succession of sightings in Northwest Missouri from Stewartsville to Savannah to Fillmore followed by a confirmed sighting in Westboro, Mo., which is about 15 miles from Hamburg, Iowa, could suggest that it is the same bear.

“There are no guarantees, but I’m about 99 percent sure that’s our same bear,” said Missouri conservation officer Eric Abbott, who works in Atchison County.

Kevin Baskins, communications bureau chief for Iowa’s DNR, said in a news release that the bear was shot by conservation officer Marlowe Wilson. The bear reportedly was raiding his garbage cans.

“This is not a decision I made hastily and I really didn’t want to shoot him,” said Mr. Wilson in the release. He had apparently scared the bear into the woods three times, but it always returned and began “acting aggressively.”

The news release mentions that Iowa officers don’t have the training or resources available to tranquilize and relocate bears.

“It is not really an option at this point in time but one DNR will continue to explore,” said an official in the release.

Mr. Abbott said breeding populations of bears in Missouri don’t exist above Interstate 70 but that young bears can venture well outside that area when looking to establish a territory.

“For one to be up this far north, that’s rare and uncommon,” Mr. Abbott said.

Jimmy Myers can be reached

at jimmym@npgco.com.