A 45-year-old man is injured and a bear dead following a collision on a central Minnesota highway, according to the State Patrol.

Milaca resident Douglas J. Cramlet was driving a 2024 Chevy Silverado south on Hwy. 23, just northeast of Foley in rural Benton County, when he hit a black bear at 5:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Cramlet was brought to St. Cloud Hospital with noncritical injuries.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources estimates there are about 13,000 to 18,000 black bears in the state, mostly in the northern third. But bears can be found between forest and agricultural zones in the southern part of the state, and sometimes the animals meander into cities.

A DNR mapping website shows a couple of bear sightings as far south as Rochester this year, as well as a handful of sightings in Benton and Sherburne counties.