When Julie Dorje heard rumors of a grizzly bear in her neighborhood on Saturday morning, just minutes from downtown Quesnel in central British Columbia, she didn't believe it at first.

There had been an unusual number of black bears in the midst of the city this year, partly due to drought and wildfires. But there had never been a grizzly bear in Dorje's memory.

So, when a neighbor rushed by with her dogs, warning of a grizzly about 10 houses away from Dorje's home, he grabbed his camera and headed out immediately.

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Dorje, owner of Julie Dorje Photography, said in an interview on Sunday, "It was a little shocking at first, it was really concerning actually because we’re used to seeing all these black bears everywhere.

But the grizzly had a completely different demeanor. In fact, it was very frightening, it was much more skittish...you could tell it wasn’t used to being in the city like the black bears.

From the safety of her car, she took advantage of the perfect photography conditions: the smoky haze in the forests and the morning sun illuminating the animal as it munched on apples from a tree in a local resident’s front yard. She said it looked thin and nervous.

Other residents of the city also snapped pictures, and Dorje and other locals believe there may have been two different grizzly bears based on their differing appearances.

CBC News reached out to British Columbia's conservation officers for information about the bears' status.

Quesnel is a community of 23,000 people, located about 100 kilometers south of Prince George, British Columbia, and the bear that Dorje photographed was spotted across a bridge from downtown, near the corner of Moffat Street and Johnston Street - a residential neighborhood comprising businesses and a school.

Drought and wildfires experienced in the province this year have led to a notable increase in the number of bears visiting cities and towns in the northern part of the province. But these are mostly black bears, not their larger counterparts.

She told CBC, "As a photographer, this is what I've worked on for a long time, to be able to quickly capture great images, in the window of the house there were three boys looking...watching the bear. It was probably one of my favorite photos, which I didn't share because they are not my kids.

"I think being a family photographer, that image really stood out."