The Lake County Sheriff’s Office is reporting another bear sighting, this time in Antioch, roughly 15 miles from where a bear was sighted on Wednesday.
It is unclear whether this is the same bear.
Yesterday, the Sheriff’s office posted the following on its Facebook page:
“Deputies are on the scene of the loose black bear just spotted in the 24100 block of W DEER RIDGE LN, Unincorporated Antioch. We have the Department of Natural Resources on the way to attempt to utilize a tranquilizer and relocate the bear. DO NOT APPROACH THE BEAR!! If you see it, please call local law enforcement, so they can direct DNR to the nearest location.”
The Illinois Department of Natural Resources was notified of the location of the bear and is in communication with the Sheriff’s office.
“At this time the Department does not want to drug or relocate the bear,” the IDNR posted. “Large visitors like the bear are becoming more common. We don’t want the public to panic. We want them to be educated about our visitors and act accordingly. If a situation arises that the bear needs to be drugged and removed the Department will work with Federal USDA Wildlife Services to accomplish that task.”
This is the second bear sighting within four days.
Last Wednesday morning, the Gurnee Police Department issued an alert about a bear sighting in the town.
“This morning around 8:45 AM, the Gurnee Police Department was made aware of a possible bear sighting in the area of Hunt Club Road and Route 132. Our officers immediately checked the area, but the bear was nowhere to be found.
“If you see a bear in Gurnee, please do not approach the animal. Contact our dispatch center at 847-599-7000 ext 0, and will work with our local wildlife authorities to respond to the area.”
While no official sighting has been confirmed, a commenter posted the video below.
The video has not been confirmed by authorities.
According to a report from CBS Chicago, a parent dropping off her child at a nearby daycare center spotted the bear running across the parking lot at approximately 9am. The area is also close to Gurnee Mills shopping center.
IDNR posted its guidelines for when a human encounters a black bear.
“If you see a black bear:
- Do not run.
- Do not surprise the bear. Make noise to ensure that the bear is aware of your presence. A black bear is not likely to attack a person unless it feels trapped or provoked.
- Respect the bear’s space, and do not approach the animal.
- If the bear sees you, stand your ground; look as large as possible by standing up straight and putting your arms up in the air and slowly back away.
- If possible, go inside a building or get into a vehicle. Black bears display two types of behavior—defensive and offensive.
- A bear may swat at the ground or surrounding vegetation, lunge toward you, vocalize, blow air out of its mouth, or pop its jaws. These defensive behaviors are used to warn you to move away. Slowly back away from the bear.
- With offensive behavior, the bear will move towards you quickly. If you have food with you, drop the food, and keep moving away from the bear.
- If a black bear makes contact with you, always try to fight it off. Do not play dead.
