MAKING THE ROUNDS: A black bear recently seen on Campbelton Road is believed to be the same bear that has also been spotted in several other Princeton and Lawrence neighborhoods. Anyone who sees a bear should report it to the police department. (Photo Courtesy of Princeton Police Department)

A black bear has been showing up on local streets during the past few days. A five-second video of the bear romping down Campbelton Road is posted on the Facebook page of the Princeton Police Department, as is information about what to do, and what not to do, in the event of an encounter.

“He’s a little guy, but bears are deceptively strong,” said Sergeant Frederick R. Williams, spokesman for the Princeton Police Department. “He’s just been running around in the open as opposed to staying in the woods. It’s probably the same bear that was taking a dip in a Lawrenceville swimming pool.”

That bear was spotted last weekend in several Lawrence neighborhoods, and was filmed emerging from a backyard swimming pool on Coach Drive.

The bear has been observed on Winant Road near the Hun School, and at Constitution Hill on Rosedale Road and Elm Road. Police believe it is moving in a southeasterly direction. “He came out as far east as The Lewis School and the Y,” Mr. Williams said. “Most of the public schools are still in session, so we’ve notified them and the Central Business District. But if the bear is just acting like a bear, which is known as a category three, there is nothing really to worry about.”

Still, there are precautions to be taken. “It’s really kind of simple, a common sense kind of thing,” Mr. Williams said. “One thing the Division of Fish and Wildlife says to do that might give people pause is to make noise, like clapping. Alert the bear of your presence. Don’t feed the bear. And you don’t want to track it around and follow it, because it may begin to think you’re a threat.”

Native to New Jersey, black bears are the largest land mammals in the Garden State. Their prime habitat consists of mixed hardwood forests, dense swamps, and forested wetlands. June and July are peak breeding season. Adult females average 175 pounds, while the males average 400 pounds, according to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s Division of Fish and Wildlife.

For more information, visit www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/pdf/bear/bearfacts_know.pdf.

Anyone who sees a bear should report it to the police department. “People have been calling to let us know, and that’s always good,” Mr.Williams said. “That way we can track it and see where it’s heading.”