The American black bear once occurred throughout the state of Texas..................... The were virtually all extirpated by the end of World War II because of unregulated hunting and habitat loss................... For nearly a century(1830-1925), the bears were hunted and killed for their meat, fat for cooking and hides for tanning, as well as for the sport of competitive hunting............... Their last stronghold of the bears in East Texas were in the swamps and thickets of the Big Thicket Region............. Little by little,, the bears have been making a slow comeback to this region and the rest of east Texas since 1984. ........... There was a resurgence of sightings in this region that followed a release of 161 black bears into neighboring Louisiana(1964-67)............ Texas Parks and Wildlife officials think most of the bears that have made their way to Texas from Louisiana are young males..........A Study is now underway to determine the breeding status of a potential permanent population in the Lone Star State with biologists already determining that there is 1 million East Texas acres that will easily support the bears return............

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Chester Moore column: A look back at the return of bears to Texas

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Posted: Saturday, March 28, 2015 6:16 pm

By Chester Moore Jr.

There has been an increase in bear sightings in East Texas, the Hill Country along with an expanding population in the Trans-Pecos region. It has been going on for the last 10-15 years and today I thought it would be a good time to look back on their expansion.

 “The black bear is a part of Texas’ natural heritage and forest ecology, the Louisiana black bear is on the federal threatened species list and is thus the focus of an ongoing restoration effort in Louisiana, Arkansas and Oklahoma, and black bears appear to be poised for a slow return in East Texas,” said Nathan Garner, Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD) regional director in Tyler.

Garner was the first person I ever interviewed about bears in East Texas and he has been on top of the issue for many years.

A possible obstacle the bear’s return in the region is poaching, which still looms large in some areas. Shooting a Louisiana black bear (which all bears in East Texas are considered) is a state and a federal crime and since they come under auspices of the Endangered Species Act (ESA), fines could be as high as $25,000 and come with six months jail time.

     

Another potential problem is misidentification since bear and feral hogs can look similar at a distance especially when someone is not expecting to see a bear.    

That is why it is important for people entering bear country to get educated about these great animals. Their comeback is happening right now. A few years ago I helped create black bear educational posters that were distributed as digital downloads to hundreds of individuals, teachers, scout leaders and church groups. If you would like one, email me at chester@kingdomzoo.com and I will get you a copy.

Bear sightings were giving people in the Texas Hill Country a shock in 2011 during the prolonged drought. So much so they sent out a press release noting that wildlife biologists were advising hunters, ranchers and rural residents that black bears appear to be roaming longer distances and may approach people or houses in search of food and water because of the drought.

“If conditions remain dry, people could see more bears, said Mike Krueger, district leader of the Edwards Plateau Wildlife District for Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

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http://www.ktre.com/story/28215010/east-texas-bear-task-force-meets-in-lufkin-to-discuss-future-bear-population#.VRhpJYZjeco.email

East Texas Black Bear Task Force meets in Lufkin to discuss future bear population

By Caleb Beames

The East Texas Bear Task Force held their winter meeting Thursday at the Ellen Trout Zoo. The meeting was to discuss the progress of a future Black Bear population in East Texas.

"The Louisiana Black Bear is native to East Texas," task force Chairman Nathan Gardner said. "East Texas is the perfect spot for the bears to be." 

Gardner told the crowd that East Texas was home to the bears but after World War II researchers started to notice a decline. 
"They disappeared due to over hunting and destruction of their habitat," Gardner said.

Gardner also said there is plenty of room in East Texas for the bears to have a livable area.

"We have nearly a million acres across East Texas that have good bear habitat," Gardner said.
The Louisiana Black Bear is native to environments found along the Angelina, Neches and Sabine Rivers. The population has dwindled in Texas but researchers claim other states nearby are experiencing growth.

"Louisiana has a lot of bears," Gardner said. "So does Arkansas and Oklahoma."

Gardner told the crowd that 30 years ago, Oklahoma did not have any bears and now the state has between 400-600 bears. 

The task force uses research from SFA Professor Christopher Comer. Comer has been studying to find out the best places for the bears to re-populate. Comer believes the bears and humans can co-exist.

"There are rather large in states that are densely populated like Pennsylvania, New York State, New Jersey where they have hundreds of bears living in close proximity to people," Comer said

Comer said it is only a matter of time until the bears return to East Texas.
They do eventually, naturally re-colonize these areas but it will take a lot of time," Comer said.

Sarah Fuller said the bears do get a bad reputation. 

"These are not Grizzly Bears," Fuller said. "These bears like to hand out and hide in the woods. They are omnivores but mostly eat plants."  

Early 20th century Black Bear killed in Teas

Fuller also said the re-introduction of black bears into East Texas will be a long process. 

"It is a long way away because the black bears are returning naturally, so it is going to take some time," Fuller said. "We are in this for the long haul. This is likely a multi-generational effort."

one of the last Black Bears killed in Texas-mid 1960's

Ben Lily, a Big Thicket Black Bear Hunter

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EAST TEXAS BLACK BEAR 
TASK FORCE

www.facebook.com/easttexasblackbeartaskforce

• Start Info

  Founded on December 1, 2005
• Short Description

  The ETBBTF supports the
• restoration of the black bear in its historic range of 
• east Texas through education,
•  research, and habitat management.
• Company Overview

  Black bears (Ursus americanus)
•  are a part of the natural heritage of Texas and were
•  historically widely distributed
•  throughout... See More
• General Information

  We invite Texans - landowners, 
• educators, students, wildlife biologists, law enforcement
•  officials, 
• conservationists, and al... See More
• Mission

  The ETBBTF will strive
• 
  
• to accomplish its mission of restoring Texas' native black bear 
• population through partnerships among... See More
• Phone

  903-566-1626 ext 209

For more information on the group's effort, click here.

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Historical accounts of Black Bear 
Hunting in the Big Thicket of East 
Texas 1830-1925

The Big Thicket Bear  Hunters Club of Kountze “They Dream Of Killing the Bears” By W. T. Block The old bear hunters of Hardin County had two things in common - they hunted bears until their youth gave way to old age, and they became windy raconteurs,  talking each other to death about the big bear that got away. In fact around 1925, a half dozen or so old bear hunters met each Saturday morning under  the big beech tree beside the Nona-Fletcher sawmill  office in Kountze. They played “42” dominoes and  swapped bear-hunting yarns for three hours before  dozing off to sleep and snoring in their hide bottom chairs. Old John Kilrain, known locally as “Old Kil,” often  passed by the mill office, exercising his dogs, while the bear hunters were playing dominoes. Kilrain,  an old Negro, had been born a slave in 1864 before  emancipation, and had led many of the bear hunts after 1890, his dogs always sticking to a bear’s trail until the latter was cornered. Kil always had a little ditty, which he sang as he passed the dozing bear  hunters, as follows: “The old dogs sleep in the  sunshine, And the old men doze  in their chairs, The old guns  hang there  a-rustin, While they dream  about killing  the bears.”1 Strangely almost  nothing was  written about  bear- hunting in Southeast  Texas prior  to the Civil War although an occasional tale about black panthers was  published. About 1830 James Barnes,  the pioneer patriarch of that family in Northwest Tyler  County, killed 14 panthers in one day, winning for him  his lifetime  appellation of “Panther Barnes” among his friends. However,  bear-hunting stories were principally non-existent  prior to the 1870s. In 1878 an article noted that some Southeast Texans made almost a profession of slaying ‘Old Bruin’ if he came  within rifle range. Yet it was well-known that those earliest  bear hunters ate every bear that they killed, killing for sport being wholly unknown to them. Galveston Weekly News reported in 1878 that:  “Mr. A. Stephenson, the old bear hunter of Southeast Texas, killed 33 bears last season, and so far this season, has killed 49 bears...”2 A story about the Sour Lake Hotel in 1878 reported that  the surrounding forests were filled with bears, panthers,  deer, and bobcats. A Galveston Daily News reporter  noted that while he was there, two hunters and their dog were trailing a bear near the hotel, when suddenly old bruin turned on them, killed one man and the dog  before the reporter added:3 “...The other man came up and rushed after Old Bruin with his knife. Bruin rose upon his  hind legs, gave him a hug, and then crushed  his skull in his mouth like an egg shell... when a man named Steele arrived and shot the bear dead...” “The two men killed by the bear were named Scott - father and son. The senior,  old John Scott was a chief of the Alabama  Indians living in that country...” Another story was labeled “The Hunter’s  Elysium,” and first appeared in the Liberty  Vindicator in 1889. Judge Hightower and his  friends were hunting bears in the Big Thicket when suddenly they heard a yelp from Old Statler, the judge’s favorite hunting dog. The  bear found an opening in the jungle, where he  chose to stand and fight off the dogs. Old Bruin, fighting fiercely with every claw  and fang he could muster, soon killed Old  Statler and was seen attacking another dog  when Hightower, his hunting knife drawn,  jumped up on the bear’s back. The judge stabbed the bear twice in the animal’s heart  before Old Bruin sank slowly to the ground.  Hightower had saved the rest of his dogs,  while his companions stood by too terror- stricken to move.4 The passing of the black bears from the  Big Thicket marked the passage of an era,  leaving the surviving bear hunters with  nothing to do except doze in the shade of the beech tree and dream about killing  the bears that were about extinct. And now the Big Thicket bear hunters are as extinct as the Big Thicket bears they once hunted. Luckily the black bears are  far from extinct elsewhere in the United  States and perhaps some day a few of them will be released once more to restock  the area. At present it is sad there are none  left to browse on the mayhaws in the  baygalls or gather the acorn mast left in  the creek bottoms. 1 “Pioneer Hunter Recalls Olden Days,” Beaumont Enterprise, April 6 , 1924. 2 Galveston Weekly News, Jan. 28, 1878. 3 N. A. Taylor, “More About Sour Lake,” Galveston Weekly News, March 15, 1878. 4 Lois W. Parker, “Legends of the Big Thicket,” Texas Gulf Historical and Biographical Record, X, Nr. 1 (Nov. 1974), 30-40. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Louisiana Black Bear History The Louisiana black bear once ranged throughout LA and parts of MS, AR, and TX. The black bear was  common at the time of early colonization, serving  as food both for Indians and white settlers. More  than 80 percent of prime Louisiana black bear  habitat in the Mississippi River floodplain had  been lost by the early 1990’s primarily due to  clearing land for agriculture.  Quality of the remaining habitat has been reduced by fragmentation and human activities.  An 1890 record shows 17 parishes containing  bears, all of them in the Mississippi-Atchafalaya region.   It was reported that the most extensive  areas of bottomland hardwoods in the state have  “at least a few bears”, with the greatest number  found in the denser woodlands along the Tensas , Red, Black, and Atchafalaya Rivers.  In the late  1950s, bears occupied habitat in the Tensas- Madison area in northeast Louisiana and in the lower fringes of the Atchafalaya Basin.  The bear  population in Louisiana at this time was reported  as “sparse” with an estimated 80 to 120 bears.  Although there were few bears in the state,  hunting was still permitted.  It was believed  that if bear populations increased significantly,  predation and crop damage would become  extensive. Black bear could be legally hunted in parts of  Louisiana through the late-1980s, but there  was little interest due to low bear numbers  and hunts were uncommon.  One of the last  organized bear hunts in Louisiana occurred  December 15, 1955.  During this hunt, 5 bears  were harvested in the Lake Providence area.   It was recommended to the Wildlife Commissio n that the bear season be closed. Bear hunting  was closed the following season and remained  closed until 1961.  The season was opened  again from 1962-1965 with hunting permitted  only in northeast Louisiana and in the coastal  parishes.  The hunting season was again  closed from 1966 to 1974.  It was reopened  in 1975-1987 with hunting restricted to the  Atchafalaya Basin.  The Louisiana bear hunting  season has remained closed since 1988.      From 1964 through 1967, 161 black bears  were live-trapped in Cook County, Minnesota  and released in the Mississippi and Atchafalaya  River bottoms of Louisiana in an effort to restock  black bear to the state.  By 1968 there was  evidence that the translocated bears were  reproducing.  However, most of the relocated  bears were killed on roads, as nuisance  animals, or during recapture.   Perhaps 400 to 600 bears are believed to roam Louisiana as of 2015 -Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries:source