Bears are making a comeback in North Carolina. What to do if you encounter one
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North Carolina’s black bear population has made a comeback, and people are more likely to come across the bears than in years prior.
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Jenna Malzahn, a black bear biologist with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, said that the return of the bears is a great conservation success. The bears were extirpated, or intentionally eliminated from an area, decades ago.
“Back in the 1970s we were down into like 1,000 black bears in different pockets along the coast and the Pocosin forests, and then in the mountains as well,” Malzahn said. “To be able to get back up to the population we have now is amazing, where we have bears all throughout the mountains, all throughout the coast, and now we’re seeing some expansion of our breeding population into the Piedmont region as well.”
The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission keeps a range map of where bears are not only seen, but are actively living and breeding, The Charlotte Observer previously reported.
“It is based on evidence of breeding females,” Malzahn said. “You can have bears in every county in the state, you can find a bear in any part of the state. That doesn’t mean bears are living in every county of the state, they could be transients kind of moving through.”
On Thursday, May 14, the NCWRC announced that the black bears are on the move throughout Central North Carolina. The group recommends using Bearwise, an organization created by biologists across the country to universalize the advice people are given about coexisting with bears, including black bears and grizzlies.
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Here’s how to keep yourself safe specifically around black bears.
Malzahn said she recommends reading up on bears in your area on Bearwise, especially if you are in an area that has contained few bears over the last century. The NCWLRC wants to push the information on the website out especially to those on the coast and in the piedmont.
Bearwise recommends six outdoor safety basics:
“We usually see seasonal spikes in the spring, early summer, and then in the fall for bears, and so it’s not unheard of for the bears to show up in unusual places this time of year,” Malzahn said.
Bears can be drawn out of their documented range in search of food, or mates. The black bear is found in 60% of North Carolina, but can be found in places you might not expect, like crossing a Durham family’s driveway last month.
Bearwise recommends:
Portions of this story were previously published in The Charlotte Observer.
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