Missouri’s black bear population, most established across the southern Ozarks, has been rebuilding for decades and the state now estimates several hundred bears statewide. The 35 records mapped here, though, center on Prairie State Park and Taberville Prairie Conservation Area, tallgrass prairie remnants in the southwest corner of the state, well outside that Ozark core. That pattern fits young male bears, which disperse widely searching for new territory and can turn up far from established range.
Reports peak from April through July, matching the window when bears leave winter dens and young males start roaming before settling into new ground. With only 35 total records, this is one of the thinner record sets among Missouri’s mammals, and the 39th-percentile abundance ranking reflects that scarcity of documentation rather than any count of actual bears. NatureServe lists the state population S4, Apparently Secure, a sign the recovery has gone well even though sightings this far from the Ozarks stay uncommon.
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