Metro-east reports second bear sighting since Thursday — this time in Clinton County
Another bear has been sighted in the the metro-east, officials said this weekend.
According to the Clinton County Sheriff’s Department’s Facebook page, the bear is in the southwestern portion of the county. A bear also was spotted Thursday in rural Waterloo.
“It was apparently off Illinois 177 outside of Mascoutah near New Memphis,” Illinois Conservation Police Officer Don Schachner said Sunday. “I don’t really have any reason to doubt it. It’s hard to say just from the photos if it’s the same bear as the one spotted in Waterloo (on Thursday). So I’m not able to confirm if it’s the same one.”
The Clinton County Sheriff’s Department posted the following message on its Facebook page Saturday:
“Our deputies are aware of our new resident and the Illinois Department of Conservation has been notified. Conservation officials have made it very clear, LEAVE THE BEAR ALONE!! Harassment, in any form, is a violation of conservation law and will be prosecuted.”
As of Sunday afternoon, the sheriff’s department did not have any additional information.
“We have not gotten any calls about it today, so I’m not really sure of any new information,” Clinton County Sheriff’s Department Dispatcher Jordan Hempen said.
“It is most probably a young male looking for territory to call his own. Thank you for your assistance in this matter,” Acting Chief Deputy Sgt. Dan Travous added on the Facebook page.
As noted, a black bear was spotted in rural Waterloo on Thursday. The Monroe County Sheriff’s Department first reported on its Facebook page Thursday morning the sighting of a large bear in the subdivision of Chantilly Village near Old Baum Church Road in rural Waterloo.
As far as that bear’s origin, Schachner noted Thursday it likely came from Missouri. He added Arkansas has a sizable black bear population that has spread into Missouri and gradually ventured into Illinois.
“The black bear population has been expanding at a decent rate. We knew it was just a matter of time until they worked their way into Illinois,” he said.
In northern Illinois, there have been a few sightings of bears that had traveled from Wisconsin.
“As society increases, certain critters adapt to it better than others. With the protections and the game laws, some populations expand a little bit better than others. And bears are starting to do that. So that’s why we’re seeing more bears,” Schachner said Thursday.
Here are additional tips if anyone encounters the bear:
- Do not feed it
- Do not approach
- Do not shoot it
- Do not leave dog or cat food outside
- Do not push trash cans out until the day of pickup
Recent bear sightings in Missouri
Last month, conservation agents tracked down a bear in St. Louis County and tranquilized it. The bear was spotted in a tree near the intersection of Buck and East Linden Avenue in Richmond Heights. The bear was taken to a less populated area and released back into the wild.
Also in May, the Kirkwood Police Department posted photos of a black bear on Facebook, while another black bear was spotted in Brentwood.
Then, last weekend, a bear was reportedly spotted in the St. Genevieve area in Missouri.
This story was originally published June 13, 2021 at 3:32 PM.