Car hits, kills bear in Missouri

A young bear has been struck and killed by a vehicle on a rural road in central Missouri.

KRCG-TV reports it happened Monday morning near the town of Meta in Maries County.

Highway Patrol Sgt. Dan Crane says the bear was a male, about 2 or 3 years old. The driver of the car was unhurt.

Black bears are native to Missouri and were once abundant in the state. The Conservation Department says they became rare by 1850 and were nearly gone from Missouri by 1931.

But they’ve been making a comeback in recent years as bears reintroduced in Arkansas began moving north.

This story was originally published June 10, 2014 at 7:23 AM with the headline "Car hits, kills bear in Missouri."