REEVES COUNTY — Last Friday, Texas Parks and Wildlife’s Trans-Pecos division received a report of a dead black bear just north of the junction of Interstates 10 and 20. The discovery of the bear’s body led experts in the region to speculate on the expanding range of the local bear population, and to call for better public education to improve human-bear relations.
The sighting of the bear so far north was a surprise, as black bears in Texas are a protected species who prefer setting up camp above 6,000 feet. Settlers in the Big Bend region all but wiped out the native black bear population by the 1940s, but decades later, visitors to the Chisos Mountains in Big Bend National Park started spotting black bears again.
Something of a miracle — even by state-funded wildlife biologists’ standards — had occurred: the bears were starting to repopulate themselves in their home range. “Now we have a substantial population in the park,” said Thomas Athens, wildlife biologist at Big Bend National Park. “Our numbers are just an estimate right now, but we say anywhere from 25 to 40.”
In the past few years, sightings of black bears have occurred across the Big Bend far beyond the Chisos. Ursine trespassers in the Double Diamond neighborhood south of Alpine and in the Davis Mountains have prompted panicked calls to local game wardens and posts on social media.
Researchers think dry conditions may have something to do with it. “In drought, they’re scrambling a little bit more — they’re coming out of the woodwork to find good food and a good habitat,” explained Louis Harveson, director of the Borderlands Research Institute at Sul Ross.
Krysta Demere, wildlife diversity biologist for Texas Parks and Wildlife in Fort Davis, offered another theory. “What I believe is happening is our southern populations have reached a carrying capacity, a level where young bears are trying to expand out to new home ranges,” she said.
Big Bend bears are roamers by nature, crossing the border for seasonal migrations and covering an area of up to 60 square miles. Male bears have a larger range than female bears — most of the bears that Big Bend residents have found rifling through their coolers and chicken coops are male.
Harveson offered a couple of tips for local landowners. “Limit anywhere they can get a cheap free meal outside,” he cautioned. “Dumpsters, dog food or cat food, even birdfeeders — when they become habituated on human foods, there’s a really good chance that bear is going to have to be destroyed at some point.”
Alerting the game warden to put down a bear burglar is the last call wildlife experts want to make. Athens, Demere and Harveson are all in the business of protecting black bears, considered “threatened” by the state of Texas. “It is illegal to hunt, kill, or harass a black bear,” Demere said. “Of course that does not go into personal safety — you are allowed to defend yourself by any means necessary.”
In most cases, self-defense shouldn’t be necessary if you encounter a bear in the Big Bend. “The behavior of black bears is very different from grizzly bears up north,” she explained. “The national park has never had any reports of altercations between black bears and visitors to the park.”
Beyond keeping the population safe, Big Bend residents can help biologists learn more about their neighborhood bears. Even as they become more commonplace, reporting bear sightings to your local TPWD biologist or game warden can help them with their research.
The casualty on I-20 was a sobering reminder of how important making those calls can be. “I will say with the Reeves County bear being on the interstate, I was disappointed we weren’t notified until 2 p.m.,” Demere said. “Thousands of cars drove past that bear before someone picked up the phone and reported it.”
“In situations like that, reporting the bear as fast as possible ensures that we can retrieve the animal,” she continued. “We can collect any genetic samples we need to and we can save that animal for education purposes. The longer an animal sits in the elements, the less likely we are to be able to use it for education and research.”
Harveson agreed. “We take advantage of these rare opportunities,” he said. “We take tissue samples, we’ll look at their stomach, we’ll look at their skull structure to figure out their age. We try to maximize as much information as we can off those animals.”
To report a bear encounter, call Texas Parks and Wildlife’s hotline at 1-800-792-1112. To report information that could lead to the arrest of anyone who has intentionally killed a black bear, call 1-800-792-4263.