WADENA, Iowa (AP) – The Iowa Department of Natural Resources has confirmed that tracks and fecal matter left near some northeast Iowa beehives came from a black bear. A beekeeper south of Wadena, near the Clayton-Fayette county line, reported that his beehives had been torn up. The fecal matter, or scat, was found within 25 feet of the hives. A neighboring landowner reported tracks and reported seeing a female with two cubs.

The department is trying to confirm the sighting of the cubs, because they would be the first wild cubs documented in Iowa in more than 140 years. The department says black bears have not lived wild in the state since the 1800s.