Return of the Black Bear
JOHN DAWSON
The Black Bear is making a return to East Texas, and we need to learn how to live with this old neighbor.
The animal is slowly returning to bottomland forests along the state's eastern border after almost being wiped out due to unregulated hunting and loss of habitat.
FOX26 Meteorologist John Dawson found an education program for a new generation of students that may grow up seeing a Black Bear.In Nacogdoches, school kids are learning about a possible "new" neighbor, who has been around Texas for a long time.
It's a program centered on Black Bear conservation. Educators like Tamberly Conway with the US Forest Service are trying to make the living adjustments a bit easier for both humans and bears.This outreach is a key step in bears becoming accepted again here in East Texas."These kids are from the East Texas area," Conway said. "They live here. They're very likely we hope going to visit our national forests where Black bears are coming in. And so if they do encounter a bear, they're at least aware and that they're not necessarily something to fear and they also know and understand that they as humans play an important role in black bear conservation."
The joining states of Arkansas, Oklahoma and Louisiana have a growing, expanding bear population, and they're spilling over into East Texas.Texas Parks and Wildlife has been keeping data on bear sightings since 1978. So far about 120 sightings have been reported."We know that this is going to take a while," said Nathan Garner, a TPWD Black Bear coordinator. "If we will just give them a chance and try to learn to live with them and not harm them. I think people will be pleasantly surprised at the opportunity to see them and to live with them again in the forests of East Texas."
The animal is slowly returning to bottomland forests along the state's eastern border after almost being wiped out due to unregulated hunting and loss of habitat.
FOX26 Meteorologist John Dawson found an education program for a new generation of students that may grow up seeing a Black Bear.In Nacogdoches, school kids are learning about a possible "new" neighbor, who has been around Texas for a long time.
It's a program centered on Black Bear conservation. Educators like Tamberly Conway with the US Forest Service are trying to make the living adjustments a bit easier for both humans and bears.This outreach is a key step in bears becoming accepted again here in East Texas."These kids are from the East Texas area," Conway said. "They live here. They're very likely we hope going to visit our national forests where Black bears are coming in. And so if they do encounter a bear, they're at least aware and that they're not necessarily something to fear and they also know and understand that they as humans play an important role in black bear conservation."
The joining states of Arkansas, Oklahoma and Louisiana have a growing, expanding bear population, and they're spilling over into East Texas.Texas Parks and Wildlife has been keeping data on bear sightings since 1978. So far about 120 sightings have been reported."We know that this is going to take a while," said Nathan Garner, a TPWD Black Bear coordinator. "If we will just give them a chance and try to learn to live with them and not harm them. I think people will be pleasantly surprised at the opportunity to see them and to live with them again in the forests of East Texas."
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