WBIW.com News - state

Brought to you by WBIW News and Network Indiana

Indiana Black Bear Believed To Be Hibernating In Wildlife Refuge

Last updated on Monday, January 9, 2017

(MADISON) - The last sighting of a black bear that entered Indiana from Kentucky in July was Nov. 20 in Big Oaks National Wildlife Refuge north of Madison. We believe the bear found a place to hibernate at Big Oaks.

The Department of Natural Resource officers believe the bear found a place to hibernate at Big Oaks.

Bears hibernate around 5 months with the possibility of emerging during winter thaws to search for food.

Black bears (Ursus americanus) were historically abundant across Indiana, excluding the northwest portions of the state dominated by prairie. Unregulated hunting and habitat loss caused black bears to be extirpated from Indiana and much of the Midwest by 1850. Black bear tracks Before 2015, when a black bear entered the state at the Michigan border, the last confirmed report of a black bear in Indiana was in 1871.

In June 2015, wildlife biologists with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources verified the presence of a black bear in St. Joseph County. The bear was believed to be a young male. It spent most of the next five months in Indiana and was last reported in the state on Oct. 13, 2015.

In March 2016, the bear emerged from its winter den in Michigan and, unfortunately, exhibited habituated behaviors, including a loss of fear of humans. Based on the Michigan Department of Natural Resources' (MI DNR) "Problem Bear Management Guidelines," such behaviors are considered a threat to public safety. Consequently, the MI DNR trapped and humanely euthanized the bear on April 9, 2016.

In July 2016, a black bear was confirmed in southern Indiana in Harrison, Washington and Clark counties.

HOW TO REPORT A LARGE MAMMAL SIGHTING IN INDIANA
If you would like to report a sighting, use our online large mammal report form. The Indiana Division of Fish & Wildlife occasionally receives reports of large mammals such as mountain lions, gray wolves and black bears. There are no breeding populations of these species in Indiana. However, individuals may pass through Indiana from established populations in other states.

BLACK BEAR FACTS

LIVING WITH BEARS

Residents in many states co-exist peacefully with black bears. They do this by not harassing bears and keeping attractants (food sources) away from them. Once a bear associates humans with a reliable food source, they will almost always seek those again, regardless of where they are released.

Bears can smell food from more than a mile away, so it's important to secure food sources and discourage animals from associating humans and human dwellings with food. To reduce or eliminate bear-human conflicts please observe the following tips:

IF YOU SEE A BLACK BEAR

LAWS REGARDING BLACK BEARS

Black bears, once a native species in Indiana, are now listed as an exotic mammal and protected under Indiana Administrative Code 312 9-3-18.5 (b-1), which prohibits the killing of a black bear except by a resident landowner or tenant while the animal is "destroying or causing substantial damage to property owned or leased by the landowner or tenant."

Report bear sightings to the DNR Division of Fish & Wildlife at (812) 334-1137 or dfw@dnr.IN.gov.

1340 AM WBIW welcomes comments and suggestions by calling 812.277.1340 during normal business hours or by email at comments@wbiw.com

© Ad-Venture Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Click here to go back to previous page