Another black bear sighting reported in southwestern Illinois. Here’s the latest
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Bear sightings in the metro-east and southern IL in 2021
Today it is a report of another big cat. This spring and summer, it was all about black bears visiting our region
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Another black bear sighting reported in southwestern Illinois. Here’s the latest
Another bear sighting in southern IL, this one about two hours southeast of Belleville
What’s the visiting bear up to in this sweltering southwest IL heat? The latest update
What’s the latest on bear sightings in southwestern Illinois? Here’s what we know
Is there another bear in southwest Illinois?
The Illinois Department of Natural Resources continues to investigate a possible sighting in the village of Godfrey.
A Godfrey Parks employee believes he spotted a small black bear Monday at LaVista Park off Illinois 3. On Tuesday morning, the parks employee, a police officer with the IDNR and the village’s animal control officer, Susie Stephan, met to look for other evidence of the bear’s presence.
“We walked around for hours looking for prints and tracks and any sign of bear feces, and we really didn’t see much out there. Right now, we’re just going to see if there are any more sightings and keep exploring around a little bit and keep a watchful eye until he pops back up again,” Stephan said early Tuesday afternoon.
Godfrey Mayor Mike McCormick said he’s highly confident in the parks employee’s account. As of Tuesday afternoon, that’s been the only sighting.
“I talked to the parks person today, and he said it was about a 200-250 pound black bear. He’s said he’s gone to Canada and hunted bear before and is 100% sure what he saw was a bear,” McCormick said. “I feel very confident if he said it was a bear, it’s a bear.”
Stephan backed up that assertion.
“Our employee is a pretty reliable source. He saw it in an open area. It wasn’t in brush that could be mistaken for something else,” she said.
The IDNR now may install cameras to try to get a glimpse of the bear.
“They’re taking it seriously and doing everything from their side of things protocol-wise,” Stephan said.
McCormick said the village issued a press release about the sighting Monday to keep the community informed and alert to a bear in the area.
“We don’t want to scare anybody, but you have to be careful with them. People just have to be aware,” he said.
McCormick added a bear sighting would not be surprising.
“I grew up in Belleville, and when I was a kid, there weren’t any deer around ... I think the bears are going to be a similar thing. Their population is growing and they’re expanding their territory,” he said.
This is just the latest bear sighting in southwestern Illinois. Last month, a bear was initially spotted in Monroe County before making his way to Clinton, Washington, Franklin and then White counties.
While investigating those sightings, IDNR Police Officer Don Schachner said the bear likely came from Missouri. He added that 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.
He also offered several tips when encountering a bear.
“Once bears start associating people with food, they lose their fear of people and start to approach people,” Schachner said previously. “Right now, if we ever get a sustained population here — we’re a ways from that — the biggest thing is to be bear aware.
“Don’t leave your cat or dog out. Don’t intentionally feed them. Don’t crowd them. Enjoy them from a distance. Don’t take your trash out until the day of. If you follow those guidelines, you don’t have much to worry about.”
Along with these suggestions, 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
Bear sightings in Missouri
In May, 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.
Shortly after, a bear was reportedly spotted in the St. Genevieve area in Missouri.
This story was originally published July 20, 2021 at 11:02 AM.