A brown bear that had been roaming around a residential district in Sapporo since the beginning of August was shot dead Wednesday morning, the Sapporo Municipal Government said Wednesday.

According to the government authority, members of a local hunting association found a bear in the mountains in the city's Minami Ward and shot it. The female bear with a white neck was 140 cm tall, weighing 128 kg, and experts later determined that it was likely the same bear that had recently been spotted in residential areas.

Residents were frightened of the bear, which seemed accustomed to humans and was unafraid of patrol sirens. It was often spotted wandering into gardens and eating fruit. At first the bear was seen only at night, but it started to make appearances in broad daylight from Monday.