Arkansas black bear populations are on the rise … slowly
As the bear population has expanded in the WGCP over recent years, interest in hunting bears in the area has increased as well.
By Traci Rushing
U of A System Division of Agriculture – UAM College of Forestry, Agriculture and Natural Resources
August 23, 2024
Fast Facts:
- The black bear population in southeast Arkansas is growing at a 4 percent rate
- Research study estimates there is 1 black bear for every 5 square miles in southeastern Arkansas
- Research results are used by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission to set sustainable bear harvest levels
- Field research experiences provide wildlife conservation and management students at UAM with valuable educational and professional experiences
505 words with art
(newsrooms: SUBS lede to add dropped 's' after 'population')
MONTICELLO, Ark. — Black bear populations are slowly rising in the bottom land hardwood forest of southern and eastern Arkansas according to wildlife expert, Don White, Jr.
Population modeling results from a recent study led by White indicate that the population density of black bears in the West Gulf Coastal Plain — WGCP — of southeastern Arkansas is approximately one black bear for every 5 square miles. The black bear population in the area is growing at approximately 4 percent per year.
As the bear population has expanded in the WGCP over recent years, interest in hunting bears in the area has increased as well. However, establishing and maintaining sustainable harvest levels requires reliable information on the population status. To assist the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, or AGFC, with setting harvest levels, White led a population study using hair snares across the region.
“To establish and maintain sustainable harvest levels for black bears, AGFC biologists need to know the number of bears that occur in the region and the growth rate of the population,” said White.
During two summers within the past five years, White and his field crews placed 360 hair snares throughout the WGCP, including the Felsenthal and White River National Wildlife Refuges and the Trusten Holder Wildlife Management Area.
“A hair snare is nothing more than two strands of barbed wire stretched tightly around three to five trees,” said White. “Attractants such as candy flavorings and fish were then hung from a rope located at the center of each enclosure. As a bear is attracted to the scent, the bear crawls under or steps over the barbed wires. As they do, the bears get their hair snagged by the barbs. From these hair samples, DNA is extracted and used to identify each bear.”
Because the DNA of bears in southeastern Arkansas is slightly different from the DNA of bears in the Ouachita and Ozark Mountains, DNA can also be used to better understand the movement of bears between different areas of the state.
“Bears from the Ouachita Mountains in western Arkansas may be dispersing and moving south and southeast. My AGFC colleagues and I are using our bear genetics data to better understand bear dispersal and map the locations of bear movement corridors. This is important work because genetically-connected bear populations are healthier bear populations. Connected populations do not suffer the consequences of limited genetic variability like isolated populations do,” said White.
Throughout each nine-week collection period, field crews checked each hair snare every seven days. These crews consisted mostly of undergraduate wildlife conservation and management students in the College of Forestry, Agriculture, and Natural Resources at the University of Arkansas at Monticello.
“Opportunities to get paid to work on research projects provide students with valuable educational and professional opportunities,” said White.
White is a wildlife ecologist for the Arkansas Forest Resources Center of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture housed at UAM and has studied black bears of Arkansas for almost 20 years. He is also a James White Endowed Professor of Wildlife with UAM.
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About the College of Forestry, Agriculture and Natural Resources and the Arkansas Forest Resources Center
The College of Forestry, Agriculture and Natural Resources and the Arkansas Forest Resources Center, a University of Arkansas System Center of Excellence, brings together interdisciplinary expertise through a partnership between the University of Arkansas at Monticello and the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. The College and Center are headquartered at the University of Arkansas at Monticello campus, but their programs range statewide with the mission of developing and delivering teaching, research, and extension programs that enhance and ensure the sustainability and productivity of forest-based natural resources and agricultural systems. Academic programs are delivered by the College of Forestry, Agriculture, and Natural Resources through the University of Arkansas at Monticello. Through the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, research is administered by the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, and extension and outreach activities are coordinated by the Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service.
The University of Arkansas at Monticello and the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture offer all of their programs to all eligible persons without regard to race, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital or veteran status, genetic information, or any other legally protected status, and are Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employers.
About the Division of Agriculture
The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture's mission is to strengthen agriculture, communities, and families by connecting trusted research to the adoption of best practices. Through the Agricultural Experiment Station and the Cooperative Extension Service, the Division of Agriculture conducts research and extension work within the nation's historic land grant education system.
The Division of Agriculture is one of twenty entities within the University of Arkansas System. It has offices in all seventy-five counties in Arkansas and faculty on five system campuses.
The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture offers all its Extension and Research programs and services without regard to race, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital or veteran status, genetic information, or any other legally protected status, and is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.
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Media contact: Traci Rushing
trushing@uada.edu
870-460-1852