A young black bear roaming Jefferson County recently is suspected to be the same bear that was run over Monday afternoon on I-55.
Dan Zarlenga with the Missouri Conservation Department says the bear was about one and a half- to two-years-old.
"It's typical at this time of year that age range of males are usually forced out of their dens by their mothers as the younger cubs are now there, and she needs to put her resources into raising the younger cubs," Zarlenga said.
A bear of similar size was captured on video by City of Pevely employees. There were also sightings in Arnold, Barnhart, and Herculaneum before the bear was hit and killed on the interstate.
Zarlenga said that this time of year is when bear sightings are most common, and that over the last few years, there have been more reports of sightings in the area. The black bear population grows about 8% every year.
