Where is the bear spotted earlier in Randolph County? What do you do if you see one?

No other sightings of the black bear spotted in Randolph County over the weekend have been reported since Saturday, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources confirmed Wednesday.

The sighting was first reported to the Randolph County Sheriff’s Department about 8:30 p.m. Saturday. The bear was about 2 miles south of Evansville, according to a statement from Sheriff Jarrod Peters posted on the department’s Facebook page Tuesday afternoon.

The initial sighting was officially confirmed Tuesday.

“The homeowner had a fairly decent photo of it. It was good enough that when I looked at it, I said, ‘Yep, it was a black bear,’” Illinois Conservation Police Officer Don Schachner said Wednesday morning.

Schachner said the bear likely is a male, while adding they do not have concrete proof of that.

That said, Schachner figured the bear is no longer anywhere near the immediate area. He noted bears can travel “unbelievable distances in a shocking amount of time,” recalling how the male black bear spotted in Monroe County in the summer of 2021 ventured 35 straight-line miles within a couple days.

That bear ultimately ventured into Clinton County and then Franklin County and was just one of several sightings — both confirmed and unconfirmed — that summer.

“I would strongly suspect the bear is several counties away,” Schachner said of Saturday’s Randolph County black bear, while discussing the summer 2021 sightings. “Every time there was another sighting, it was a ridiculous distance away. They really can travel great distances in short periods of time.”

Illinois Conservation Police Officer for Randolph County Jacob Farrell agreed.

“The bear is long, long gone. They travel very quickly,” he said.

Neither Schachner nor Farrell thought the bear got particularly close to a neighborhood, with Schachner noting, “The photo showed a mowed yard that was a well kept yard but a little bigger of a yard ... it looked like a rural yard.”

Added Farrell, “Someone was driving along the highway on Illinois 3 and took a photo of it.”

Schachner figured the bear migrated from Missouri and was headed east.

“Typically, the biologists expect them to head eastward,” he said. “But it’s a wild animal and sometimes they move at random. As they’re expanding toward us from the west they typically move eastward. But that’s not guaranteed And I can’t say with 100% certainly, but the highest odds are it came from Missouri.

“Biologists have been saying for years everyone is talking about mountain lions migrating to this area, but the reality is we’re going to have an established population of black bears before mountain lions. They’ve always been in Arkansas and then moved into Missouri and are gradually working their way eastward from Missouri to us.”

In that regard, Schachner said no documented evidence exists of bears actually living in Illinois and bearing youth here — yet.

“We can pretty much say with certainly it’s not the case yet,” he said. “How most species work — especially bears — is the young males are the ones who range out the farthest. Females typically do not range out as far. So a viable breeding population expands geographically much more slowly than the sightings of the bears.

“Moreover, the young males will range out real far looking for females and new territories. Females don’t range out as far. So a viable breeding population does not advance as far the young males will.”

A different bear sighting?

Schachner said there was another recent bear sighting farther south in southern Illinois prior to this most recent one.

He said IDNR biologists also recovered some scat — i.e. droppings/fecal matter — and are testing it to determine if it’s from a bear. Then, if they can find scat from the bear recently spotted near Evansville, they will test and cross-reference those samples to determine if it came from the same bear.

“The one from further down south, based on the size and contents of the scat, they’re pretty positive it’s from a bear, but it’s being tested,” Schachner said. “Say it proves to be bear scat and then they have the DNA on it, if they find scat from this bear in Evansville, the biologists can determine if it was the same bear sighted or if it was a second bear. At this point, it’s just a fingers crossed type of thing.

“Right now, they only have one scat and they have not found anything from up this way yet.”

Bear safety tips

So what should people do if they encounter a bear?

Schachner offered several tips, including:

• Do not feed it

• Do not approach

• Do not shoot it

• Do not leave dog or cat food outside

• Do not push trash cans out until the day of pickup

“Enjoy the bear from a distance,” he said. “Don’t crowd it and don’t harass it. Don’t push it with your vehicle as you’re trying to get a good picture. Don’t induce any more stress on it than necessary. Those are the best ways to avoid issues.”

Schachner also had previously provided this additional specific piece of guidance for why people should not feed bears.

“Don’t intentionally feed them. Once bears start associating people with food, they lose their fear of people and start to approach people,” he said.

More bear safety recommendations

Additionally, Farrell provided guidance for people who encounter a bear in their yard or elsewhere, differentiating between if the animal is in an offensive mode or a defensive mode.

“If the bear is snorting and standing tall, it’s in a defensive mode,” he said. “In that case, just back away slowly. Don’t run. Act and look big and put your arms straight up in the air and make noise ... then back away slowly. Give the bear space. That’s the best thing to do. Like most any other animal, the bear won’t act if it’s not provoked. Just make your presence known, back away slowly and give the bear as much space as it needs.

“If it’s in an offensive mode where it’s trying to charge, just try your best to immediately take shelter in a building or a car. Create as much distance from yourself and the bear as you can in a safe manner.”

For more safety tips or to report a sighting, Farrell recommended visiting www.wildlifeillinois.org.

Evansville, the small town near Saturday’s sighting, is located along the Kaskaskia River, about 10 miles north of its confluence with the Mississippi River.