Black Bear Spotted Nosing Around Osage Beach, Missouri Dumpster

Everyone in Missouri has been warned that the black bear population is expanding and that appears to also include the Osage Beach area as a black bear was spotted by a resident nosing around in a dumpster.

I just saw KRCG share the story of what Osage Beach resident Tim Coen captured pictures of near a dumpster. They shared several pictures and a video from Tim of what looks like a very young black bear doing what black bears do - looking for food wherever he/she can find it.

Tim was reportedly unloading furniture near the Osage Beach Parkway which would be approximately this area right next to the lake.

That would be a somewhat unusual location for a black bear to be wandering around as that's a very active area with lots of people around. Bears tend to avoid contact with humans whenever possible so this young bear must have been hungry.

What should you do if you see a bear like this one near Osage Beach?

Other than obviously contacting the local wildlife experts and/or police, don't approach a bear even if it's a smaller, younger bear like the one seen in and around Osage Beach. If there's a young bear, there is likely a mother bear nearby. While bears rarely attack, a defensive mother that thinks her cub is in danger would be more likely to be aggressive. Let's hope that wildlife officials near Osage Beach can relocate this young bear away from civilization.