Bears are on the move across Mississippi
By Randy Bell
The bear sightings reported in Clinton in April and more recently around Utica should come as no surprise, especially at this time of year.
“What you have are young males that are dispersing from the [female bears] that raised them up until this point in their lives,” says Anthony Ballard, the Black Bear Program Leader for the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks. “They’re about a year and a half old, and they’re out on their own for the first time. They’re roaming tens or hundreds of miles looking for, basically, a place to call home.”
Ballard says that’s why bears are being seen in areas where they’re not as common.
“Almost always, it’s those young males,” continued Ballard. “I compare them to teenage boys. They’ve got that long, lanky build. They’re following their noses, and they just don’t have the experience to know how to avoid people.”
He says the bears have a sense of smell that’s seven times better than a bloodhound.
“That’s why it’s so important to us to convey messaging about putting up attractants that could possibly bring a bear to your property.”
Ballard says that includes pet food, bird feeders and barbeque grills.
Black bears are normally shy animals.
“There’s never been an attack [on a human] with an injury or fatality caused by a bear here in Mississippi,” Ballard says. But he warns that feeding a bear intentionally can cause it to lose its fear of humans, creating an extremely dangerous situation.
The animals were once plentiful in Mississippi, but over-hunting and the loss of habitat reduced their estimated population to fewer than a dozen in the 1930s. However, black bears have recently been making a comeback. The current estimate, which is more than ten years old, is between one hundred and fifty and three hundred bears.
“We’ve got some updated numbers,” Ballard says. “We’re going through the final stages of making sure all of those are good. We’re hoping to have those new, updated numbers coming out over the summer. The growth rate in the population, I would say, is very healthy.”
Those who see a bear and want to report a sighting can go online to do so at www.mdwfp.com. Use the menu at the top of the page to find the “Wildlife and Haunting” tab and click “Black Bear.”
For those who need assistance with a bear, there’s a phone number to call.
“If there’s some kind of urgent issue that is more pressing that just reporting a sighting, we have 1-800-BE SMART, which is our twenty-four-hour hotline,” Ballard says.
The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks also encourages the public to use the website www.bearwise.org which is aimed at “helping people, businesses and communities coexist with bears.”
IMPORTANT CONTACT INFO
Report a bear sighting
www.MDWFP.com
Urgent bear-related issues
1-800-BE-SMART
24-hour-hotline
Coexsiting information
www.BearWise.org
