San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
More black bears are making themselves at home in Texas
Success of Arkansas conservation program appears to be fueling spread to southwest
An uptick in recent black bear activity has stoked optimism about the species’ return to the Texas landscape.
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has reported seven bear sightings in Northeast Texas since April. One or two sightings a year is typical for the area.
A bear was spotted on the shore of Lake Texoma in Grayson County. One was photographed from a homeowner’s back porch in Titus County. Three sightings reported in Bowie County are believed to be of the same bear. Another was likely seen twice in Bowie and Camp Counties in the past week.
“We’ve had some periods where we had increased activity, but we now seem to have multiple individual bears, which is different,” said Stephen Lange, a regional director for TPWD’s wildlife division.
Conservation success in Arkansas, decades in the making, is responsible for black bears spreading into Missouri and Oklahoma. Perhaps Northeast Texas is next in line.
With bear populations decimated, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission began stocking efforts in 1958 with bears from Minnesota and Manitoba. About 250 bears were brought to Arkansas through the 1960s.
Those bears and their descendants thrived.
Today, about 5,000 bears are estimated to live in The Natural State. The expansion continues, breaching boundaries.
“Bear sightings and occurrences of bear in Southwest Arkansas have increased dramatically over the past decade. Bears continue to disperse out of established populations in the Ouachita Mountains and the south-central part of the state from the Felsenthal National Wildlife Refuge,” said Myron Means, AGFC large carnivore program coordinator.
“As densities in the southwest part of the state continue to increase, it is very likely that bears will continue to expand their range into Northeast Texas where suitable habitat exists.”
Go west, young bear
Oklahoma long has been a beneficiary of Arkansas’ success. A steady increase of bears in Southeast Oklahoma led to an open season in 2009. Since then, hunters have harvested an average of about 50 bears a year.
“Even with the hunting season, our bear population seems to be increasing at about 6 percent per year,” said Jeff Ford, senior wildlife biologist for the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation.
The bears’ range in the state is extending, too.
“We’re seeing a few more bears show up in the central part of Oklahoma, and the north-central part, that we’ve not seen in years past,” Ford said.
The animals wandering into Texas are young, transient males in search of food and other bears. Males have much larger home ranges than females, and subadults can travel many miles to set up a new one.
While an upward trend continues in adjacent states, East Texas bear watchers await the arrival of a mama bear. So far, no females or cubs have been reported in the region.
Bear expansion is a slow process — and barriers such as the Red River and highways are a hindrance — but with plenty of suitable habitat in the Red River/Sulphur River corridor, the possibility of a female eventually taking up residence is real.
“These bears that are along the Red River in Texas are within 50 miles of breeding populations in Oklahoma and Arkansas,” Lange said.
“By attrition, one will show up here sooner than later.”
Hundreds of miles across the state, West Texas is several years ahead in black bear recolonization. Females with cubs live in the TransPecos, and breeding populations have been identified in six counties (Culberson, Presidio, Brewster, Terrell, Crockett and Val Verde).
The terrain of the state’s two hot spots seemingly could not be more dissimilar.
Bears entering from the northeast find themselves in the thick Piney Woods and forested bottomlands of the Red River. Out west, bears live at high elevation in the mountains looming above the arid desert environment of the TransPecos.
Bears are highly adaptable creatures, though, and naturally have recolonized the region from the nearby Sierra del Carmen mountain range of northern Mexico.
Activity in West Texas recently has picked up, too.
Bears were observed in Fort Davis, Alpine and Fort Stockton during a four-day period in late June. Michael Janis, Trans-Pecos district leader for TPWD, said dry conditions during the spring might have sent bears looking for food. Breeding season also could have moved bears around.
Bears also can be seen in Big Bend National Park, Black Gap WMA and the Davis Mountains. Wildlife managers believe bears have returned for the long term.
For Janis, the recent sightings are “an opportunity to do some outreach and education.”
“As bears continue to recolonize West Texas, it’s inevitable that there’s going to be conflicts. The best management strategy that we can employ at this time at Texas Parks and Wildlife is trying to educate the public on what it means to live with bears,” he said.
For those living in or visiting bear country, securing attractants is crucial. Odors from food and trash bring in bears. Pet and livestock feed are easy meals. Bird feeders are especially appealing.
“In Texas, our culture of having deer feeders complicates things,” Janis said.
TPWD recommends feeders be hung at least 8 feet high and 4 feet from the attachment point. Other alternative tips include using automated instead of open feeders, soybeans instead of corn, and planting food plots instead of using feeders. Electric fencing also can keep bears out while allowing deer in.
When a bear begins to associate humans with food, it can become habituated and no longer wary of people. A habituated bear is a problem bear. TPWD encourages folks to make adjustments in bear country to peacefully coexist.
Try to stay calm
Black bears, secretive and shy, are a protected species in Texas and are illegal to kill. If you encounter a bear, remain calm, make yourself appear as large as possible, and don’t run. Do not look it in the eyes.
Typically, though, black bears will not harm humans. They are elusive, quite skilled at navigating around people undetected.
Bears had been extirpated from Texas by the 1950s and well before that in many parts of the state. If bears continue to re-emerge in Texas, the expansion likely will center around the Trans-Pecos and Red River areas.
Louisiana black bears could head west, but conducive habitat in Texas is far from those breeding populations. Transient bears from New Mexico also are occasionally reported in the Panhandle counties of Dallam, Hartley and Oldham, according to TPWD district leader Brad Simpson.
Few creatures capture human hearts and fears the way bears do. They are magnetizing animals shrouded in mystery. The memory of a rare glimpse can last a lifetime.
As a keystone species, bears bring vitality to an ecosystem. Roaming bears disperse thousands of seeds through their scat, manage prey populations, and clean up carcasses. Their very presence on a landscape is an indication of a habitat functioning at its highest potential.
“If these animals are returning to a landscape that they were extirpated from 50 to 75 or even 100 years ago, it’s an indication that the landscape has the ability to support large-scale omnivores,” Lange said.
For bear and wildlife conservation in Texas, that’s exciting news.
San Antonio Chapter’s seventh annual Hooked on Clays Sporting Clays Shoot. Check-in 11:30 a.m., shooting at 1 p.m., National Shooting Complex, 5931 Roft Road. Lunch and refreshments after shoot. Door prizes, raffles. Four-gun team, $600; individual, $150. Contact Tricia, 210-3257824 or hookedonclays@gmail.com or click on ccatexas.org/san-antonio.
Texas Master Naturalist Training Class 6-9 p.m., Schertz Area Senior Center. For information or application, email Michelle at mdarnelltex@gmail.com or Sandi Wheeler at wheels5683@gmail.com or click on txmn.org/guadalupe.
The 44th annual Hunters Extravaganza at the Fort Worth Convention Center is postponed until Aug. 13-15, 2021. Click on ttha.com.
Women-only bay fishing tournament headquartered at Cove Harbor Marina and hosted by the Coastal Bend Guides Association; $100 per angler with up to four per team. Guided and nonguided divisions. Click on saltwatersweeties.com.
2020-21 hunting and fishing licenses go on sale. The Texas Outdoor Annual Hunting, Fishing and Boating Regulations booklet will be digital only because of the economic impacts of the coronavirus. Click on outdoorannual.com.
Online application deadline 11:59 p.m. for drawn hunts for archery white-tailed and mule deer, exotics and javelina. Go to tpwd.texas.gov, click hunting tab, and scroll to “public hunting;” email hunt@tpwd.texas.gov or call 512-389-4505.
Women-only offshore contest; headquarters at Port Aransas Civic Center, events at Port Aransas Civic Center, weigh-in at Fisherman’s Wharf, 900 Tarpon St., Port Aransas. Benefits the Women’s Shelter of South Texas. Click on gofishtx.com.
Women’s fishing tournament sponsored by Aransas Bay Chapter of Coastal Conservation Association, Paws and Taws Convention Center, Fulton. Live music, vendors, educational outreach by conservation groups. Click on babesonthebay.com.