The two-year-old bear walked 150 kilometres “home” to Roccaraso, a small mountain town in the central Abruzzo region.
He was detected close to other towns via his radio collar, but did not stop in on his way to Roccaraso.
The docile bear was spotted outside the town’s train station on Tuesday morning, three weeks after being taken back to the mountains in the Majella national park.
He had previously been in an enclosure but experts moved him to the mountains in a bid to adapt him to his natural environment.
Juan Carrito is one of four cubs belonging to the much-loved Amarena, who is well known in the L’Aquila province.
A regular visitor to Roccaraso, he made headlines after he broke into a bakery last November and eating a batch of freshly-made biscuits.
The break-in led to him being captured and transported to a remote area in the mountains, but he was soon back, leading to a second capture in early March and a period in the enclosure.
Juan Carrito reportedly likes to sleep in the pine trees at the entrance to the town, before roaming the streets in search of food and drinking from fountains.
The bear has also been known for his playfulness towards dogs.
His movements will continue to be observed before a decision is made to recapture him.
The Marsican brown bear is a subspecies of the brown bear, with only around 50 of the animals left in existence, compared to 100 in 1980.
