Bear necessities: Human/bear interactions in Georgia grow more common

ALBANY‒ The black bear (Ursus americanus) is without a doubt the largest game animal in the state of Georgia with adult males exceeding 500 pounds. The chronicles of early explorers and colonists indicate that the species was initially prevalent across the state.

However, when the early colonists crossed the Atlantic, they brought their long-standing European love-hate relationship with bears to Georgia. During this period, bears were killed not only for their meat, fat, and fur but to hinder their impact on crops and livestock.

Although the impressive claws and teeth of a mature black bear might lead uninformed observers to jump to the erroneous conclusion that they are looking at a predatory carnivore, a threat to man and livestock alike, black bears are actually omnivorous with an inclination leaning more toward vegetarianism, unless these options become unavailable or they are in a location with increased farming activities. Then crops and livestock may become more preferable.

Bears in actuality are not good hunters, due in part to their poor eyesight. This, however, is offset by acute hearing and a keen sense of smell. And even though bears are fast runners, they tend to be ambush hunters when seeking to add meat to their diet. Their poor eyesight is also a leading contributor to most encounters between humans and bears. Historically, there is no recorded account of a fatal bear attack in Georgia. However, bear-human encounters often leave the impression on the human involved that their life was in danger.

The impact of colonists and early settlers clearing land for settlement and commercial logging resulted in the dramatic destruction of bear habitat. This, combined with unregulated hunting and trapping, reduced Georgia’s bear population, restricting it to three geographic populations. The largest population is in the Appalachian region of north Georgia with a secondary population centered around the Okefenokee Swamp. A third and lower population is associated with the Ocmulgee River basin in central Georgia.

In 1963, U.S. Fish and Wildlife census data showed Georgia’s black bear population to be around 500. In the 1970s, Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee realized that the black bear was a shared resource and began working together in what would become the Tri-State Black Bear Study. Other studies within the state focused on the central and southeast Georgia populations. For the most part, hunting was restricted and efforts were initiated to try and save the remaining populations.

In 2019, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources' Wildlife Resource Division (WRD) developed a Strategic Management Plan for black bears in Georgia. The stated purpose of the plan is “to ensure the long-range conservation of Georgia’s black bear population, to provide sustainable harvest opportunities and promote the black bear’s intrinsic value in Georgia’s natural landscape while minimizing human-bear conflicts.” With Georgia’s bear population currently estimated at around 5,100 today and reports of bears being sighted outside the three population zones, it would seem that the plan is working well.

This increase, combined with a rapidly growing human population and resulting urban sprawl, make human-bear interactions inevitable. The leading cause of these interactions is humans introducing bears to non-natural foods including bird feed, garbage, bee hives, cornfields and pet food. Whether this is done intentionally or not, it generally leads to these interactions becoming more problematic for both humans and bears. As concerns related to property damage and safety to humans and pets increases, so do the bear nuisance calls to WRD offices. In an effort to prevent these occurrences, DNR encourages all Georgians to visit, BearWise.org.

The SMP studies and manages each of the state’s three population regions independently, addressing issues of habitat loss, barriers to movement and genetic diversity. It also studies the interactions of bears in areas that were once rural and are now developed and the wildland-urban interface. Today carrying capacity is measured in two ways: First the traditional biological carrying capacity, which is the number of bears the land in a given area can support, compared to the cultural carrying capacity, which is the number of bears that the public will tolerate in a given area.

“Seeing a black bear in its natural habitat is a thrill and a privilege, and not something to be feared," GADNR Bear Biologist Adam Hammond said. "Instead, review and follow BearWise tips to prepare and plan before it happens. That will allow you to have a positive experience and maybe even get a photo – if taken safely – to remember it in the future."