Vermont's black bear population is estimated to be roughly 6,300 to 7,600, which is down from a record population last year, according to the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department .
As recently as the 1970s, Vermont's bears were found only in mountainous areas and in the Northeast Kingdom, and likely numbered between 1,500 and 3,500. Today they are found in every Vermont town, except communities on the Lake Champlain Islands and reached a five-year high of 7,000 to 8,500, based on 2022 data that was reported last September.
The newest data of roughly 6,300 to 7,600 reflects the counts during 2023.
"A healthy bear population like Vermont's has a natural cycle of peaks and dips that plays out over years," Jaclyn Comeau, the wildlife biologist who leads the Black Bear Project in Vermont, said in a statement. "It is important to look at an individual year's population estimate in context to larger trends over time."
Many factors influence the bear population in Vermont, including habitat quality, the availability of wild foods, the balance of female to male bears and their ages, as well as the number of bears taken by hunters each year and the number of bears who die from non-hunting causes each year, such as age and collisions with vehicles.
Why is the number of bears in Vermont changing
Vermont's bear population increased consistently from the 1970s through the 1990s. It was relatively stable from 2000 to 2018, with periods of shorter-term growth and decline. Since 2019, the population has been averaging an 8% increase annually.
"We've been seeing what looks like population growth," said Joshua Morse, Fish and Wildlife's public information officer. "What we don't know is if that's an uptick cycle that will correct with a downtick, or a departure from what has been a pretty stable population. The only way to know that is to keep monitoring the population, which we will do."
Vermont's current healthy bear population is the result of a research and conservation effort that includes land protection, regulated hunting and public education on preventing conflicts with bears, although the latter continues to be a challenge.
Where are the bears living in Vermont
Recently a black bear found its way into the attic of a Stowe condominium in a quest for bird seed − still a significant attractant for bears despite years of warnings to homeowners from Fish & Wildlife − and had to be coaxed out of the attic and back into the woods by a game warden.
Morse also said Fish and Wildlife is getting bear reports in the Greater Burlington area along the Winooski River and in South Burlington, as it has the past several years.
"Greater Burlington is not outside of bear country," he said.
There have been at least 30 successful or attempted home entries by bears this year in Vermont, according to Comeau. Ten years ago, there were only one to four reports a year.
"Vermont's black bears are a conservation success story, but our work isn't done," Comeau said in a statement. "If you live in Vermont you live in bear country and you are responsible for preventing conflicts with bears."
Contact Dan D’Ambrosio at 660-1841 or ddambrosio@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @DanDambrosioVT.
This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: 'You live in bear country': Here's how many black bears live in Vermont in 2023-2024
Most Popular
Comments / 0