Meet your new neighbors: the bears
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A 2-month-old cub is tagged and examined by a wildlife conservation officer of the Pennsylvania Game Commission before being released in Cambria County March 17.
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JOHNSTOWN -- A bear sighting in Franklin Park in June prompted safety-conscious school administrators to keep students indoors temporarily. A late-night sighting the same month in South Park stirred the local rumor mill for weeks, and in July an errant black bear spotted in a West Deer neighborhood became a public spectacle.
The state's black bear population has quadrupled since the early 1980s, but biologists say the arrival of bears in urban and suburban areas is cause for study, not alarm.
"Generally, [bears are] just not that big of a deal," said Mark Ternent, a biologist and bear specialist with the Pennsylvania Game Commission. "Somewhere in the state there's a bear in somebody's backyard every day."
Last week, as part of a Game Commission study of bears in human population centers, Mr. Ternent led a team of biologists and wildlife law enforcement officers to a brushy hillside outside of Johnstown. Nearly within sight of a small community in Richland, Cambria County, a black bear sow had built a den and given birth to three cubs.
Nearby residents were unaware of the new neighbors, Mr. Ternent said, but that's not unusual.
The Game Commission den visit was part of a three-year study of the habits of suburban and urban bears. Fifty bears living near Johnstown, State College and Scranton have been or will soon be fitted with radio telemetry collars that send periodic text messages to Mr. Ternent. The goal is to learn more about bears that live near humans, including den selection and reproductive success, and help the state develop management policies and educational strategies that reduce negative contacts between people and bears.
PG VIDEO: BEARS ON THE MOVEThe only bear species living wild in Pennsylvania, black bears are normally extremely shy and wary of humans. Ursus americanus isn't always black -- colors can range to cinnamon or blonde, and some have a white "V" on the chest. They climb trees, swim and run up to 35 mph for short distances. Adult females weigh about 200 pounds; males can grow to three times that or more. Black bears will eat anything -- berries, fruit, acorns, grass, carrion, corn and other agricultural products, and small animals when they can catch them -- but they have a troublesome taste for bird seed and trash can contents, especially sweets. They can live up to 25 years.
First Published March 27, 2011 12:00 am
