Massachusetts wildlife officials confirmed this afternoon that the bear caught in Brookline earlier Tuesday is the famous Cape Cod Bear who traveled from the South Shore to Cape Cod a few weeks ago. 

According to a press release issued by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, officials cannot confirm that all the recent sightings around Metro Boston, including such areas as Westwood and Dedham, are the same bear, only that the bear captured in Brookline today is the same as the bear captured in Wellfleet on June 12. 

While on the Cape, the bear hung out in backyards, feasting on birdseed and other goodies, in South Plymouth for at least a week before swimming across the Cape Cod Canal. Wildlife officials caught that bear after it roamed the Cape for weeks, moving it west and releasing it.

Officials confirmed in the press release today that the bear has been transported back to a remote location in Western Massachusetts.

Yesterday, a black bear was spotted off 2nd Avenue in Needham, near the Newton line, but vanished before officials could capture it.

Then, late last night, a bear appeared near Skyline Park on the Newton/Brookline line, sending out both Brookline and Environmental Police to the area near the Baker School in Brookline. This morning, Brookline Police found the bear sleeping in a tree off Pine Road.

Environmental Police responded to the scene on Pine Road this morning where they used tranquilizer darts to subdue the animal. The bear eventually fell from the tree (unharmed) and was packaged up with ice to be transported to the western part of the state. 

Officials said male bears are going out on their own for the first time around this time of the year, thus the increased sightings. According to the press release, young male black bears often travel "great distances" after leaving their mothers to find their own territory.