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Black Bear Sightings Create Curiosity, Need for Public Education
Black Bear Sightings Create Curiosity,
 Need
for
Public Education
By
Terri McLean
WHITESBURG, Ky., (Aug. 9, 2006) - Black bear sightings are more
common in eastern Kentucky these days. Yet, when Shad Baker
heard that a bear was spotted near the Letcher County
Cooperative Extension Service office where he works, he was a
little skeptical. Must be a "big dog or something," he thought.
His skepticism turned out to be short-lived. The bear that had
reportedly ventured past the city swimming pool, through two
subdivisions and alongside a four-lane highway earlier that day
also found his way up a winding road to the Extension office
perched above the city of Whitesburg.
“It tickled me to see something like that up here,” said Baker,
Extension agent for agriculture and natural resources. “It was
exciting.”
It was also timely. Baker and colleagues in surrounding counties
as well as in the forestry department at the University of
Kentucky College of Agriculture were in the process of planning
an educational program to help area residents learn more about
the black bear’s return to the state. A day trip through
Whitesburg by one such bear made the program seem all the more
apropos.
 “People
are not used to having the bears around,” Baker said. “So they
really need to be educated about what to do and what not to do
in regards to the bears so that there’s not a conflict.”
Apparently, Baker is not alone in his sentiments. Some 40 area
residents showed up at the Letcher County Extension office last
week to hear UK researcher Dave Maehr and Steven Dobey of the
Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources shed light on
the large charismatic creatures that, as Dobey said, are once
again “knocking on our front door.”
“The black bear is the most American bear we have,” Maehr told
the group. “It is truly ours.”
Although Kentucky was once full of these bears and was even
referred to as the “bear state,” unregulated harvests and loss
of habitat nearly wiped them out for more than a century, Maehr
explained. Only in the past few years has the black bear begun
to return and given experts a reason to think a resurgence is
possible.
“We struggle with how many bears are out there all the time,”
Maehr said, but added that the bear population is “at least
stable or slightly increasing.”
Maehr, who has been studying black bears in Kentucky for four
years, said that since 2002 he and his team have humanely
trapped 65 black bears specifically for research purposes.
Several of those bears were fitted with radio collars to help
the researchers track their movements and learn more about their
habitat and food needs.
The bears being tracked are mostly located in forests covering
the rugged Pine, Black and Cumberland mountains where Kentucky
borders West Virginia, Virginia and Tennessee.
“That’s some of the most uninterrupted forest anywhere in
Kentucky,” Maehr said.
Although much remains to be learned, Maehr told those gathered
that some exciting new work will give researchers a better idea
of how bears live and what they need to survive in Kentucky. For
example, a project that involves collecting hair samples off
barbed wire snares is providing yet another way to test the bear
population and understand distribution patterns.
While Maehr and his research team are collecting data, Dobey and
his colleagues at the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife
Resources are working to reduce the potential for human-bear
conflicts. The two most important things to remember: Do not
feed the bears and enjoy them at a distance, Dobey said.
“One of the most important detriments is it is possible to love
a bear to death,” he said, adding that people often think
they’re “cute” and leave food out to keep them coming around.
The bears then begin to get accustomed to searching for food in
residential areas, creating problems for both the bears and the
people who live there.
“Feeding them teaches bears to quickly associate you … with
food,” he said. “It’s probably the worst thing you can do.”
Removing the bears’ access to pet food, birdfeeders, garbage and
other food sources is also important.
“If a bear doesn’t have access to food for five to seven days,
he’s going to go somewhere else,” Dobey said.
In addition to reducing human-bear conflicts, another management
goal is to establish adequate habitat for black bears to enable
the population to expand. Dobey said his department hopes to see
the number of bears increase enough to eventually have a
sustainable bear harvest “like most of our neighboring states.”
Dobey cautioned, though, that many things must be considered
before the hunting of black bears is allowed, including
protecting core areas of bear habitat and the female segment of
the population.
As the population of black bears continues to grow, so, too,
will the curiosity surrounding them. Baker said the program in
Letcher County is a good start to increasing the public’s
awareness of these interesting – and beneficial – creatures.
“The fact that they’re here can be a great asset for the county
and the region,” Baker said.
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Contact: Shad Baker, 606-633-2362
Dave Maehr, 859-257-4807
Steven Dobey, 502-564-7109, ext. 474 |
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The UK College
of Agriculture, through its land-grant mission, reaches across
the commonwealth with Teaching, Research and Extension
to enhance the lives of Kentuckians. |
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Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service |
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