FESTUS, MISSOURI (KMOX) It has happened again. Another black bear is dead after being struck and killed by a vehicle at I-55 and U.S. 67 in Festus Tuesday night. In June of last year, a black bear was killed on I-55 in Pevely.
Cpl. Lexis Wilson, Conservation Agent in Jefferson County, believes the black bear spotted Tuesday morning inside the city limits of Festus is the one that was killed. Sightings were first reported Wednesday and Friday of last week in Festus.
In the last 10 years, the black bear population has been growing in Missouri. Wilson says the Conservation Department estimates 850 to 1000 black bears live in the Show-Me-State. After wandering north from Arkansas, they have been settling in the Lake of the Ozarks area. Wilson says the black bears that mosey into Jefferson County are typically adolescent males recently kicked out by mamma and are still learning how to gather food.
Black bears are typically docile. Wilson says they only get aggressive if you feed them. She says, "a fed bear is a dead bear." As the saying indicates, they would have to put a black down if it becomes aggressive. Wilson says there has never been a report of a black bear attacking a human in Missouri.
