Bear sightings becoming more common
Animals may be looking for food
SAN ANGELO, Texas —Black bears once freely roamed the Texas landscape before their status as a predator to the state's ranching animals spurred their removal.
An increase in reported sightings suggests the bears might be making a comeback.
From 2010 to 2011 the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department has seen a spike in the number of reported black bear sightings, but Jonah Evans, wildlife diversity biologist for the TPWD's Trans-Pecos District in Alpine, said it's unclear what that means.
"It could mean that bears are hungrier because of the drought and fires, and they are getting into food sources that typically are dangerous (to them) because they're associated with people," Evans said.
"In order to meet their dietary requirements, they have to cover a lot more ground."
Furthermore, Evans said: "We just don't know what spurs people to give us reports. It could be there was a really cool report on the Discovery Channel, (and) before that, nobody cared to call in. We don't know if (more sightings) means there are more bears in the state. If I had to guess, I'd say it seems like there are."
Ruben Cantu, a wildlife biologist and regional director for Texas Parks and Wildlife's San Angelo office, said that while most Texans are aware of wildfires that blazed through the state last summer, fires in Mexico didn't garner as much attention. "Mexico had one of the largest fires in their recorded history," he said. "That was some of the best bear habitat that went up in smoke. A lot of these bears may be bears from that area."
Drought also is a likely culprit, Cantu said. "The drought allowed for those mountains (in Mexico) to get really dry, and it just takes a spark" to ignite, he said. "The drought itself also has bears moving more because they're looking for food, and the drought just compounded the fact that there's not a lot of food." "A nuisance bear or a bear that's causing a problem for people is almost always the result of a food source created by people," Evans said.
On Thursday, the Irion County Sheriff's Office posted on its Facebook page a black-and-white photo of a dark-colored bear standing on its hind legs beneath a deer feeder. According to the website, the photo was captured Oct. 13 by a game camera on Ketchum Mountain, west of Mertzon.Game Warden Lt. Doug Seamands on Thursday said the photograph is authentic. "They think it's the same one they've seen in Barnhart," he said.
Added Cantu: "The week before last we moved a bear from Del Rio out to West Texas because it got into the city limits. There was another (recent) bear sighting in the Western Hill Country."
Cantu said bear sightings should be reported to TPWD so the department can better track their movement and gauge whether the bear could become a nuisance. Bears are protected in Texas, he said, so it is illegal to shoot or trap them.
According to the Texas Parks & Wildlife website, black bears are generally not a threat to humans unless they are provoked."They're going to be as scared of you as you are of them," Cantu said.Evans said there are few reports of black bears attacking people. "In the U.S. I think it's somewhere between zero and three to four a year," he said. "Compared to car accidents, (the incidence) is incredibly small."
According to a May article from the Texas Wildlife Borderland News, more than 200 black bears lived in the Davis Mountains in the late 1930s."A lot of people started settling into that country, and a lot of people were ranchers who raised sheep and goats," Cantu said. "Having bear on your property is not conducive to having sheep and goats."
Black bears have trickled back into Texas since the 1990s, the Texas Wildlife Borderland News states, but — given that female black bears don't travel as far as males do — it's unlikely their population will be as large as it once was.
An increase in reported sightings suggests the bears might be making a comeback.
From 2010 to 2011 the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department has seen a spike in the number of reported black bear sightings, but Jonah Evans, wildlife diversity biologist for the TPWD's Trans-Pecos District in Alpine, said it's unclear what that means.
"It could mean that bears are hungrier because of the drought and fires, and they are getting into food sources that typically are dangerous (to them) because they're associated with people," Evans said.
"In order to meet their dietary requirements, they have to cover a lot more ground."
Furthermore, Evans said: "We just don't know what spurs people to give us reports. It could be there was a really cool report on the Discovery Channel, (and) before that, nobody cared to call in. We don't know if (more sightings) means there are more bears in the state. If I had to guess, I'd say it seems like there are."
Ruben Cantu, a wildlife biologist and regional director for Texas Parks and Wildlife's San Angelo office, said that while most Texans are aware of wildfires that blazed through the state last summer, fires in Mexico didn't garner as much attention. "Mexico had one of the largest fires in their recorded history," he said. "That was some of the best bear habitat that went up in smoke. A lot of these bears may be bears from that area."
Drought also is a likely culprit, Cantu said. "The drought allowed for those mountains (in Mexico) to get really dry, and it just takes a spark" to ignite, he said. "The drought itself also has bears moving more because they're looking for food, and the drought just compounded the fact that there's not a lot of food." "A nuisance bear or a bear that's causing a problem for people is almost always the result of a food source created by people," Evans said.
On Thursday, the Irion County Sheriff's Office posted on its Facebook page a black-and-white photo of a dark-colored bear standing on its hind legs beneath a deer feeder. According to the website, the photo was captured Oct. 13 by a game camera on Ketchum Mountain, west of Mertzon.Game Warden Lt. Doug Seamands on Thursday said the photograph is authentic. "They think it's the same one they've seen in Barnhart," he said.
Added Cantu: "The week before last we moved a bear from Del Rio out to West Texas because it got into the city limits. There was another (recent) bear sighting in the Western Hill Country."
Cantu said bear sightings should be reported to TPWD so the department can better track their movement and gauge whether the bear could become a nuisance. Bears are protected in Texas, he said, so it is illegal to shoot or trap them.
According to the Texas Parks & Wildlife website, black bears are generally not a threat to humans unless they are provoked."They're going to be as scared of you as you are of them," Cantu said.Evans said there are few reports of black bears attacking people. "In the U.S. I think it's somewhere between zero and three to four a year," he said. "Compared to car accidents, (the incidence) is incredibly small."
According to a May article from the Texas Wildlife Borderland News, more than 200 black bears lived in the Davis Mountains in the late 1930s."A lot of people started settling into that country, and a lot of people were ranchers who raised sheep and goats," Cantu said. "Having bear on your property is not conducive to having sheep and goats."
Black bears have trickled back into Texas since the 1990s, the Texas Wildlife Borderland News states, but — given that female black bears don't travel as far as males do — it's unlikely their population will be as large as it once was.
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