For the past two weeks we have been following reports of a Black Bear roaming around Northeastern Iowa. It was first reported near Castalia, IA and has since been seen west of Dubuque, IA, near Maquoketa IA, and Bellevue, IA. This Bear had apparently crossed this Mississippi River into Illinois yesterday morning, entering North of Savanna, IL and was seen near IL Route 84.
Black Bear near Stockton, IL
This morning a Jo Daviess County sherrif deputy saw the bear crossing an agricultural field North of Route 20 near Canyon Park Rd west of Stockton. The deputy was able to take the picture we see here. Shortly afterwards it was photograped in a tree, a few miles North. You can see those pictures here.
It is believed that this bear had left its original habitat in Minnesota and came down the Mississippi river corridor. It has been increasingly common for Black Bears to expand thier home range and to habitat their former range of 200 years ago.
In June of 2001 the Dubuque, IA area also had black bear sightings and Iowa has had 17 sigtings since 1968. The last black bear sighted in Jo Daviess County was in early Janurary of 1940 when a bear was seen near Menominee, west of Galena, IL. There have been several sightings deemed reliable in the past decade however.
It has generally been recent policy that if the animal does not become a nuisance, is not a danger, or is not in any imminent peril, that it be allowed to exist unmolested and without hindrance.
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