The excitement was nearly unbearable Sunday as Columbia residents reported a black bear roaming in and around town throughout the day. 

Fortunately, the unusual visitor wandered on his way out of town by nightfall.

The first reports had the rare species to this area in the areas of Croatia Drive and in the woods behind Oak Tree Drive at about 9:30 a.m.

A short time later, Columbia police and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources Conservation Police blocked off an area in the 700 block of North Main Street when the male bear climbed a tree in the backyard of a residence.

IDNR Conservation Police Officer Don Schachner said police officers on scene told him that a group of youngsters driving in town witnessed the bear cross Main Street and bolted out of their vehicle toward it, likely scaring him up the tree.

What made the situation worse was that the tree this bear decided to climb happened to be in the backyard of a home hosting a birthday party. Luckily, no one was playing outside at the time, Schachner said. 

“The people were creating the danger by stressing out the bear,” Schachner said. “Once everyone gave it space, he went on his way. He’s only looking for food and females.”

Conservation police and Columbia police continued to monitor the bear’s location throughout the day.

Late Sunday afternoon, a bear was seen roaming in the 1000 block of North Metter Avenue. In the early evening, the bear was spotted in a corn field off Palmer Road near Braun Funeral Home. 

Shortly after 7 p.m., Columbia police reported that the bear was safe and had left city limits, last seen heading toward The Bridges Golf Course to the north in rural St. Clair County. 

Once it made its way closer to a wooded area with a creek, Schacher said he felt comfortable on Sunday that the bear was in a safe place.

An unconfirmed report Sunday evening had the bear in the area of Cement Hollow Road east of Dupo.

On Monday afternoon, several photos were shared on social media of seemingly the same bear seen roaming the grounds of the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows and other areas in and near Belleville.

Schacher said the IDNR was also notified of a possible bear sighting Saturday in rural Monroe County, which was likely the same bear seen the next morning in Columbia.

Sunday marked the first significant black bear sighting locally since June 2021, when the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department and IDNR received several reports of a bear roaming through rural backyards between Waterloo and Valmeyer.

Like the bear seen Sunday in Columbia, it eventually wandered out of the area without incident. 

Per the IDNR, black bears (Ursus americanus) were once common in the area but were eliminated from the region in 1870 before being designated as a “protected species” in 2015.

Black bears cannot be “hunted, killed or harassed” unless there is an imminent threat to a person or property detected, IDNR said.

Schachner said that if see you see a bear, report the sighting to local police and refrain from approaching or feeding the bear. 

“They’ve been making their way across from Missouri and Arkansas,” Schachner said. “They move in such an unpredictable manner.”

As for the option of tranquilizing the animal in situations such as Sunday, Schachner said that is basically a last resort used by IDNR in such scenarios as a human safety hazard or if struck and injured by a vehicle.

The IDNR encourages people to check their property for food sources that could attract a bear if one is reported in the area. Through learned behavior, bears often investigate anything that may yield a food reward, such as bird feeders, barbeque grills, garbage cans and dog food. 

The best advice Schachner offered for those in the next event of such a sighting is to simply keep calm and let the bear continue traveling onward.

“Leave him be,” Schachner stressed. “Just enjoy him from a distance.”

For more information on black bears and humans coexisting with this animal, visit bearwise.org.