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North Carolina Black Bears *See more information about North Carolina's black bears from the Coexisting with Wildlife section! *Also see the documentary The Bear Facts, The Story of a North Carolina Treasure.
Black bears thrived throughout all of North Carolina in pre-colonial times. Nevertheless, like mountain lions and wolves, black bears were persecuted by early settlers and populations suffered from detrimental habitat changes. By the early 1900's, black bears were restricted to the most remote mountains and coastal swamps. Unlike cougars and wolves that never recovered in North Carolina, black bear populations and range have expanded over the last 30 years. The expansion in bear populations and range is due to changing human attitudes about bears, better laws and enforcement of laws, better management by wildlife agencies, the adaptable nature of bears and the ability of bears to peacefully coexist with people in most circumstances.
Wildlife Commission biologists and technicians spend thousands of man hours each year collecting data from black bears killed by hunters and automobiles. Hunters are critical to this program because they provide over 90% of our samples. In 2006, NCWRC personnel collected 857 black bear teeth (for aging) and 132 reproductive tracts from bears dying in the state. We have recorded 16,133 bear ages and collected 2,533 bear reproductive tracts since the early 1970’s. These biological samples, collected over a long time period, allow us to monitor population age structure and reproductive parameters and estimate population levels within areas called Bear Management Units (BMU). Data of this type also allow the NCWRC to make sound management decisions and set hunting seasons based on biological parameters. The following graph depicts estimated Coastal and Mountain bear populations over the last 2 decades based on data collected by NCWRC personnel.
North Carolina has a strong black bear hunting heritage dating back to colonial times. Early colonists relied on bears for food and hides to feed and clothe their families. As early as the 1800's, North Carolinians developed strains of hounds used to pursue black bears, and these hounds quickly became world-renowned. Beginning in the 1930's, hunters and conservationists pushed for bear hunting regulations and for the creation of a state wildlife resources agency to manage wildlife and enforce wildlife laws. The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission was created in the 1940's, and Wildlife Commission personnel began officially monitoring black bears in the 1960's. In the 1970's, the Wildlife Commission began a sanctuary system that has proven to be very important for black bears. Sanctuaries allow populations to grow while providing hunting opportunity on surrounding areas. Currently, we have a system of over 500,000 acres of NCWRC "designated" black bear sanctuary with hundreds of thousands of additional acres of lands set aside as "De Facto" sanctuary because landowners chose to limit or restrict hunting. Due to abundant agricultural crops and more stable food resources, the average weights of Coastal bears exceed those of Mountain bears each year. During the 2003-2004 black bear season, North Carolina produced 48 bears in excess of 500 pounds on the Coast and 6 bears over 500 pounds in the Mountains. The Coastal region continues to develop a reputation for trophy-quality bears. Similar to white-tailed deer, black bears must reach a certain age level in order to gain the trophy weights sought by many hunters. The figure below demonstrates how Wildlife Commission biologists can monitor and evaluate bear population age structure to assess the potential for given areas, in this case the Neuse and Southern Albemarle BMU’s, to continue to produce quality bears.
The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission's black bear management includes:
NCWRC oversees all bear research conducted in North Carolina through direct studies by Commission personnel as well as participation and oversight on a variety of research projects involving professors and students from universities. In recent years, numerous universities including Auburn University, North Carolina State, the University of Tennessee and Virginia Tech have performed research in North Carolina under permit from NCWRC. Research has focused on issues ranging from bear habitat use and home ranges to procedures for estimating bear populations. The results of these research studies are often published in scientific journals. Example of output of major bear habitat study in eastern North Carolina (pdf) 2007 Black Bear Bait Station Survey (pdf) 2007 Hard and Soft Mast Report (pdf) Highway 64 Bear Research Report (pdf) Black Bear Complaints Received by District Biologists, 1993-2007 (pdf) What's in a Name? Hibernation Means Different Things to Different Animals
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