{"id":761743,"date":"2026-07-14T04:59:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T04:59:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/761743\/"},"modified":"2026-07-14T04:59:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T04:59:13","slug":"bear-sightings-spark-social-media-buzz-as-wildlife-officials-monitor-jackson-movement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/761743\/","title":{"rendered":"Bear sightings spark social media buzz as wildlife officials monitor Jackson movement"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"text | article-text\">JACKSON, Tenn. (WBBJ) &#8211; A black bear sighting in Jackson has police urging people to stay alert, but online, it\u2019s also turned into a running joke.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Local businesses are posting AI-made pictures showing the bear \u201changing out\u201d at their stores, \u201cworking\u201d there or even as a fun way to warn the public about the bear that is roaming around. Wildlife officials say this is still a real animal moving through the area, but it should not be a threat to the public.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"figure-img img-fluid mx-auto d-block\" alt=\"Black bear sighting\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/R3YIKFOYNNBADMB62JZFXXXQ2M.png\" width=\"980\" height=\"548\" \/>Black bear sighting(Gray News)<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">The TWRA says bears showing up in Middle and West Tennessee are often moving in from neighboring states as bear populations expand. Recent sightings suggest typical travel behavior as it moves through the region. They say this behavior is consistent with normal dispersal patterns and there aren\u2019t currently plans to relocate the bear.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Wildlife officials are reminding residents to secure food sources like trash cans, pet food left outside, and bird feeders to reduce your chances of a visit from the new local celebrity.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cI make sure I don\u2019t leave no garbage outside with food in it. And I got dogs, I got some little bitty puppies in the backyard and I make sure my fences are locked. Make sure all my doors are locked because I hear they can open up doors,\u201d said Alice Gardner, Jackson resident. <\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"figure-img img-fluid mx-auto d-block\" alt=\"Black bear sighting\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/AYWDB4BV5BDSLHB2VYX6K4OOVU.png\" width=\"980\" height=\"541\" \/>Black bear sighting(Gray News)<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Jackson Police issued a BOLO after reports the bear was last seen near Christmasville Road and Henderson Road. Officers say don\u2019t approach it, don\u2019t feed it, and don\u2019t try to get a close-up photo. They\u2019re asking people to keep a safe distance and report sightings to JPD, and to only call 911 if the bear is threatening people or property.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">The bear\u2019s doing his own tour of Jackson, your job is to not be a stop on the tour. Report sightings and keep pets inside.<\/p>\n<p>Copyright 2026 WBBJ. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSON, Tenn. (WBBJ) &#8211; A black bear sighting in Jackson has police urging people to stay alert, but&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":761744,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[16638,299,326076,326075,79,25052,201],"class_list":["post-761743","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-black-bear","tag-food","tag-jackson-police-department","tag-jpd","tag-science","tag-west-tennessee","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/761743","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=761743"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/761743\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/761744"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=761743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=761743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=761743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}