A black bear is making its way through mid-Missouri.
It was seen in Boone County in the city limits of Centralia on Saturday, June 7.
Daryl Damron, Wildlife Damage Biologist with the Missouri Department of Conservation told Missourinet it is thought to be the same bear that was spotted in Callaway County in Kingdom City just days before.
“We have no idea where it is now. I think it has left Centralia. In all likelihood the bear is a juvenile male who’s dispersing from his, you know. original home range and they just want to explore places they have never been” said Damron. “Trying to find a new home, trying to find and establish a territory, looking for food. They just follow their nose, kind of, this time of year.”
Damron said it is also never a good practice to try and feed the bear. The best thing to do in a black bear encounter is just give it space.
“When they come into these small communities, if people would just leave them alone, they’re going to wander through and realize that’s not a place they want to stay. So, they’re eventually going to leave, “he said. “When people get to chasing it around that’s when you have problems with it going up a tree, because it gets scared and then it just seems to take that process even longer when people are harassing it by following it around in vehicles and that sort of thing.”
There are an estimated 900 to 1,000 black bears living in Missouri.
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