Metro-east sightings of black bears, big cats were common during the summer of 2021
Black bear, bobcat and mountain lion sightings were commonly reported in the metro-east and southern Illinois last summer.
Will history repeat itself this summer and offer people an up-close view of Mother Nature’s majestic yet potentially dangerous creations? There’s already been one so-far unsubstantiated report of a mountain lion in Columbia.
With that in mind, here is a rundown of the various sightings from the summer of 2021.
Thursday, June 10
A bear was spotted in the rural Waterloo area, officials said.
“It’s confirmed. There’s no question about it,” Illinois Conservation Police Officer Don Schachner said.
The Monroe County Sheriff’s Department first reported on its Facebook page Thursday morning, June 10, the sighting of a large bear in the subdivision of Chantilly Village near Old Baum Church Road in rural Waterloo.
Weekend of June 13
Another bear was sighted in the the metro-east the weekend of June 13, officials said.
According to the Clinton County Sheriff’s Department’s Facebook page, the bear was in the southwestern portion of the county.
“It was apparently off Illinois 177 outside of Mascoutah near New Memphis,” Schachner. “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 (June 10). So I’m not able to confirm if it’s the same one.”
Thursday, June 17
Schachner confirmed a young male black bear was spotted in Franklin County near the south end of Rend Lake.
“I would say that it’s the same bear,” Schachner said. “We haven’t had a confirmed bear sighting down here in three years and that wasn’t even a sighting: It was just evidence that one was here.
“I’d say it was the same bear. He’s just running a big loop.”
Monday, June 21
The black bear sighted around the region was reportedly spotted in White County, which is about two hours southeast of Belleville. WSIL-TV reported a resident posted photos of a bear in her back yard three miles north of Carmi.
There never was confirmation that it was the same bear initially spotted in Monroe County on June 10, then Clinton County on June 12, then Washington County on June 15 and then Franklin County on June 18.
Monday, July 19
The Illinois Department of Natural Resources investigated a possible black bear sighting in Godfrey.
A Godfrey Parks employee believes he spotted a small black bear Monday, July 17, at LaVista Park off Illinois 3. The following 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.
The IDNR never officially confirmed that alleged sighting.
Tuesday, Aug. 31
A jogger in Madison County said he saw a mountain lion the morning of Tuesday, Aug. 31, according to an officer with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.
According to the Bethalto Police Department, a man was running and claimed he saw the animal run toward the public works complex near the intersection of Albers Lane and Whispering Oaks Drive, a report from KMOX stated.
However, at the time, Schachner called it an “unverified spotting” and it was never actually confirmed.
Thursday, Sept. 16
The Monroe County Sheriff’s Department confirmed a big cat was spotted in Columbia.
Images of the animal were captured on Portia Campbell’s surveillance camera in Columbia. Monroe County Sheriff’s Department Major Chris Lutz confirmed the sighting Thursday afternoon.
“There’s people saying it’s a mountain lion, a cougar, a bobcat ... I looked at the video, and I think it’s probably a bobcat,” he said. “But when you’re looking at a night vision black and white video it’s pretty difficult to confirm ‘yes this is that’ or ‘yes this is that.’”
Thankfully, despite all these sightings, no reports surfaced of anyone being harmed — human or animal.
