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Spring/Summer 2000 Membership Dollars at Work: Restoring the
Bear The Louisiana black bear was practically eliminated from its native range in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley by the early twentieth century. Bear habitat has been significantly altered or eliminated throughout much of the region and the current population estimates are thought to be less than 300 individuals.
According to Theodore Roosevelt IV, great-grandson of President Theodore
Roosevelt, "The BBCC is providing a model of inclusiveness for
conservation efforts around this country. Let me state categorically:
We cannot protect the environment without those people who live closest
to it, whose livelihood is on the land - the This philosophy is echoed by Paul Davidson, Executive Director of the BBCC. Davidson said, "When someone is doing something you think is wrong toward the environment, you don't attack them. You sit down at the table with them, you put your heads together, you listen to what their problems are, and you try to figure out a way."
The BBCC represents a broad coalition of landowners, state and federal agencies, private conservation groups, forest industries, agricultural interests and the academic community working together to address management and restoration of the black bear in Louisiana, Mississippi and East Texas. The BBCC serves as a model for the resolution of a resource management issue. The Committee's first priority is the welfare of the resource. The second, is to find common ground through cooperation, not confrontation. The BBCC believes that this public/private sector alliance, working together for the sake of the black bear and its associated natural resources, is a major key to future restoration of the bear. Through efforts of those represented on the BBCC, much progress has been made towards two basic objectives, to stabilize and manage the existing black bear populations and to restore black bear to suitable habitats. Areas of focus are management, education/information, research and funding. Since the formation of the BBCC, a workable strategy has been initiated to achieve realistic goals in each of the focus areas and participants have taken a positive approach toward turning idea into reality. As with any wildlife population, objectives and attitudes of landowners, land managers, resource users and the general public will determine whether bears can survive. Public education will be a key to the future of black bears in Mississippi. Much of the information used in public education is derived through intensive research. Such research is currently being conducted by Mississippi State University (MSU) under the guidance of Dr. Bruce Leupold with the MSU Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. This research program is currently funded by the U.S.D.A. Forest Service, Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, the Boone and Crockett Club, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
An interesting component of the diet of black bear in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley is fish. During spring through late summer, bears are attracted to shallow backwater pools and sloughs where they find an abundance of dead and dying fish such as freshwater drum, carp, shad, bowfin (grinnel) and gar. The fish are an important source of protein at a time when most other food items, such as berries, are primarily carbohydrates. This is particularly true for females with cubs, as their young require good sources of protein for rapid growth. Although black bears exhibit tremendous regional variation in movement, researchers have observed some general trends in study areas. As in other areas of the country, male bears in the study area travel much farther and more often than female bears. Researchers have observed movements of up to 18 miles for some adult males. It is not unusual for adult males to travel 10 miles within a single week. Female bears, however, are somewhat more sedentary. Most of the females being monitored in this study use areas of approximately 3,800-6,400 acres, varying seasonally according to local food availability. Differences between male and female movement patterns are, for the most part, related to behavioral differences between the sexes. For example, during the summer, male bears compete intensively for breeding opportunities, thus male bears with larger home ranges are more likely to encounter receptive females. Female bears, especially those with cubs, typically use much smaller areas to minimize competition with other bears. Size of these home ranges tends to be related to both habitat quality and number of bears occupying the same general area. As bears in Mississippi, especially in Southwest Mississippi, move in search of food and females, they are likely to encounter commercial bee hive operations, thus causing extensive problems and conflicts with the restoration and management of black bear.
To aid in solving the problem, the Mississippi Fish and Wildlife Foundation has purchased five solar-powered electric fencing units to prevent conflicts between bears and the owners/operators of bee hive operations. The Foundation is working in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services Agency (formerly Animal Damage Control) by providing the electric fencing units to them for use in reducing conflicts by bears.
Theodore Roosevelt IV, James Cummins and Senator Thad Cochran at The Onward Store, near the birthplace of the Teddy Bear. Photo by Bruce Reid (The Clarion Ledger). According to Peyton Self, President of the Foundation, "The Foundation's extensive commitment to the restoration of bottomland hardwoods combined with various management techniques, such as the prevention of possible damage by bears to bee hive operations, will result in an improved population of black bear in Mississippi." To develop any type of future management strategies, much data is needed concerning movements, food habits, reproduction, and influences on riparian flooding and current forest management practices on these and other aspects of black bear ecology. Such information is vital not only to the State of Arkansas, but also the State of Mississippi.
Black Bear Conservation Committee For more information, contact: |
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farmer,
the rancher, the logger, the fisherman." The young Roosevelt recently
came to Mississippi to retrace his great-grandfather's footsteps. He
also came to praise landowners, businesses and conservationists for
their work that has restored over 100,000 acres of bottomland hardwoods
and to urge more investment in conservation, including Wildlife Mississippi.
Preliminary
analyses of food habits and field observations show that these bears
feed on green vegetation such as wheat, as well as insects, carrion
and berries such as dewberry, pokeweed and dogwood. Other items include
persimmons, sassafras fruit, pecans and acorns, especially the large
acorns of overcup oak. 
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