The southern Missouri Ozarks and southern Wisconsin are slowly sending forth "pioneer" male black bears into Illinois................Extirpated from Illinois by 1870, a prospecting bruin is wandering in the Rockford area of the state as I type this POST................The Illinois legislature is on the verge of giving endangered species protection to the bears as well as wolves and pumas................All of these animals have popped up in the state over the past several years................The Land of Lincoln "waving the freedom flag" ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Will residents of the state learn to coexist should one or more breeding populations take hold over the next 50 years?.

http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2014/06/09/more-bears-migrating-to-missouri-illinois/#.U5kMRlgscYs.email

More Bears Migrating to Missouri, Illinois

Bob HamiltonJune 9, 2014 1:00 AM

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Photo: AFP PHOTO/Mark RALSTO

They come up from Arkansas where that state is re-introducing them.ROCKFORD, Ill. (KMOX) - It’s not unusual to see black bears in the Ozarks south of St. Louis.

When new bears are born, their search for their own territory can take them across the state line into Missouri.

But, could the Arkansas bears have found a way to get across the Mississippi River?

Now, they’re turning up in Illinois.

Winnebago County Sheriff’s deputies were called to a home near Rockford Saturday morning where a resident spotted a bear eating berries in his yard. TheBeloit Daily News reports the resident apparently frightened the bear and it ran into a nearby woods.

The Rockford Register Star reports a phone alert about the bear was issued for area residents. A male black bear can weigh up to 350 pounds.

Early Sunday morning, Roscoe, Illinois police spotted a bear, and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources said they’ve had sightings in Freeport and Stockton in recent days.

The University of Illinois Extension Service says black bears were once widely hunted in Illinois but the last one was shot and killed in 1870.

Now, it seems, they’re back, possibly crossing from Missouri into southern Illinois and certainly crossing into northern Illinois from Wisconsin
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