And thats absolutely the number one easiest way to get hurt by wildlife, Carrollo says. As of 2018, both of these counties have grown their populations since the last census, with Philadelphia County increasing by 3.04% and Allegheny County by a more modest 0.30%. In areas that both species inhabit, the hump, or the lack thereof, is a distinguishing feature. The next numbers will be hypotheticals. All rights reserved (About Us). A 747-pound bear was shot in Lycoming County. Each side has two molars on top and three on the bottom. The largest bear through all 2020 seasons was the 719-pound male taken with a crossbow on Nov. 7 in Ayr Township, Fulton County. . Check out all of the other stories in the serieshere. The bear season stats in 2020 and 2021 were also relatively successful. A dramatic growth has provided more opportunities for people to see bears, which is an experience many treasure, and bear hunting has greatly improved. Hes a really good-looking bear, she says, before offering something like a scouting report: fantastic body weight, no bony protrusions indicating malnourishment, no signs of mange, a great looking coat of black fur. Seven bears from Potter, Bedford, Clearfield, Clinton, Luzerne, Centre and Monroe counties were heavier than 600 pounds. Southeast (179): Schuylkill, 75; Dauphin, 66; Northampton, 15; Lebanon, 2; Berks, 17; and Lehigh, 4. The black bear recovers from the tranquilizer and ambles into the woods. Some can weigh up to 600 pounds and even 900 pounds in exceptional cases. After weighing each bear, a tooth is pulled, which is used to determine the age of the bear. All rights reserved (About Us). So she has learned to deal with it. Once they're in, they'll hibernate for around 100 days, or slightly over three months. And, according to the Pennsylvania Game Commission, bears in Pennsylvania appear to be experiencing a higher rate of mange than their cousins in neighboring states. Proudly founded in 1681 as a place of tolerance and freedom. Another seven were taken in the early season," a statement from the game commission said.Video below: May 2022 - bear spotted near a busy grocery store in Lancaster County.The biggest bearsThe largest bear taken in Pennsylvania in the 2022 hunting season was a 755-pounder in Middle Smithfield Township, Monroe County. Quite a number of counties have had negative population growth: Cameron County, the least populous in the state, has just 4,683 residents and its population has decreased by 7.69% since the last census, while the larger Cambria County's population has reduced to 134,313, representing a 6.37% decrease. However, between 2001 and 2021, black bears killed 28 people in North America. Its a bad idea to feed your outside pets more than they can efficiently clean up before dark. The Pennsylvania firearms hunting season for bear opens Saturday, November 17, and speculation is running high on whether this will be the year that hunters top the existing record of 4,350 bears harvested in 2011. Hearst Television participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites. When I'm not working, I enjoy playing video games with friends. Theres plenty of food. In Pennsylvania, there are breeding populations of black bear in over 75% of the state, and bear sightings have been reported in all 67 of its counties. Great weather on peak hunting days also helped. Furthermore, as I mentioned earlier, an adult black bear is capable of bending your car door in half if it decides it wants to get inside. The northcentral county is perennially the top producer of bears in Pennsylvania. Their average height is around 30 inches at the shoulder. 15 Best Amazon Clothing Brands Including Closet Staples and Statement Pieces, Memorial Day Sales 2023: The Best Early Memorial Day Deals You Can Shop Now, 45 Best Wedding Gifts That Are Way More Unique Than a Blender, 25 Trendy Amazon Spring Fashion Finds You'll Want in Your Closet ASAP. Lycoming County gave up 212 bears to rank first among counties for bear harvest. Photo: Reid R. Frazier / The Allegheny Front. They have an acute sense of smell, relatively poor vision and hearing thought to be close to that of humans. The ages, races, and population density of Pennsylvania tell a story. Agency personnel capture and eartag 800 or more bears annually, of which 20 percent aer usually harvested in the general season. The large black bear that was captured in Lancaster County and relocated to Stony Valley in Dauphin County in June has followed its enthusiasm for travel to the bitter end. They really try and avoid any kind of conflict with people, they look at us as a threat. Black bears lack the shoulder hump that brown bears or grizzly bears have. They have long brown snouts, short tails, and small brown eyes, although their eyes are blue at birth. Pennsylvania's black bear population peaked about four years ago, estimated at over 20,000 bears, and stayed that way until 2020, when it began dropping. Photo: Reid R. Frazier / The Allegheny Front, This males paw measures 6 inches across. Photo: Reid R. Frazier / The Allegheny Front, Emily Carrollo takes the temperature of a smaller bear. Black bears walk in a shuffling, flat-footed way, but can run as fast as 30 miles per hour over short distances. Since then, the population has taken off, to its current number of around 16,000. Any comparison of data from before 1990 only includes the white, Black, and Other race/ethnicity categories. Of course none of these tips will guarantee smooth sailing bears like people are individuals and some are more trouble than others. Southcentral (172): Huntingdon, 52 (78); Bedford, 37 (54); Fulton, 21 (35); Perry, 19 (14); Blair, 16 (22); Juniata, 8 (16); Mifflin, 8 (10); Franklin, 6 (14); Cumberland, 3 (4); and Adams, 2 (5). Share their experience with a Pennsylvania bear family:http://www.pennlive.com/wildaboutpa/2017/10/bear_family_surprises_rock_hou.html, Bear with wanderlust was a traveler to the end. In the bed is a young black bear which Rob shot earlier that morning near the Shrader family camp in Clinton County. They are omnivores, and in some cases, 96% of their diet is plant material. The heaviest black bear ever harvested came from Pike County, Pennsylvania. As you can see, black bears are not non-aggressive all the time. Mange is a highly contagious skin disease carried by parasitic mites that results in hair loss and sometimes emaciation and death. To learn more please visit - From Under the Deck Bear Feeding Ban. Also, do bears in Florida, and other warm states hibernate, or do they just become less active? "Surely it's hard for some to imagine that Pennsylvania has such a vibrant black bear population," noted Tom Keller, the Game Commission's Game Mammals . For example, Pennsylvanias bear harvest in 2021 was 3,659 bears. Our goal was to offer more hunting opportunities and prevent Pennsylvanias bear population from increasing, noted Game Commission Executive Director Bryan Burhans. Bears provide recreation for hunters, wildlife photographers, and those who enjoy viewing animals. A black bear chased a dog into a Perry County home in 2011 and then attacked and injured the couple . Cory Bennet, of Tom's River, New Jersey, took it with a muzzleloader on Oct. 15. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. Also, bird feeders have the potential to bring bears to your property, whether that be hummingbird feeders or ones that dispense out bird seed. If you have a vegetable garden, a chicken coop, an orchard, bee boxes, or any other outside bear attractants, you should consider using electric fencing to keep the bears at bay. The . The largest bear through all 2019 seasons is the 813-pound male taken with a rifle on the opening day of the general season in Smithfield Township, Monroe County, by Victor M. Vassalluzzo, of Kintnersville. A smaller bear with tags in its ears. "They were practically decimated into small subpopulations. Pennsylvania's black bear population was much smaller in the 1970s, according to Carrollo. That changed after the state placed limits on bear hunting. A percentage of those 3,659 were tagged bears. Black bears, of which there are an estimated 20,000 in Pennsylvania, are roaming across nearly all the state. Bears were taken in 58 of Pennsylvania's 67 counties. See. Theres plenty of land. For more than 60 years the family has hunted in the mountains around the camp, one generation after the other. The information we use to assess the bear population and bear habitat is documented in a written bear management system (PDF) developed in1986, which contains criteria for decision-making and management options. Lycoming County was next best, producing 186 bears, followed by Tioga, with 185; Clearfield, with 158; Monroe, with 152; Clinton, with 150; Elk, with 140; Luzerne, with 125; Centre, with 117;. In 1987 the second largest black bear by Boone and Crocket measurements was killed by a poacher in Lycoming County. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. Boars are males, and sows are females. This means that in the case of black bears, a female bear with cubs is less dangerous than a predatory male bear. The bears are also weighed. If you should come upon a bear on your property, dont try to handle the situation on your own. The per capita income in Bear Creek, Pennsylvania is $43,036.00. Since 1992, seven black bears weighing at least 800 pounds have been lawfully harvested in Pennsylvania hunting seasons. Pennsylvania bear population Black bears are typically found across about 75 percent of. These were the only categories included before 1990 for the available data. Four hundred to 500 bears are hit and killed by motor vehicles in an average year, said Travis Lau, spokesman for the Pennsylvania Game Commission, Learn more about road-killed bears in Pennsylvania:http://www.pennlive.com/pa-sportsman/2016/04/what_are_your_chances_of_hitti.html. With an estimated 18,000 black bears wandering across most of Pennsylvania, your odds of seeing a bear are higher now than at any other time in the states history. Today, harvest during the extended season accounts for 30 to 40 percent of the total harvest in those areas. How dangerous are they? Thats why the census is important. Additionally, theyre almost always perpetrated by young adult males in the late summer or fall. Population in Bear Creek by Race and Ethnicity. These are Philadelphia County, which is coterminous with the city of Philadelphia and has a population of 1,574,765 (even though it is the second smallest county in the state by land area), and Allegheny County, with its . The good news is you are almost certain to survive the encounter. Predators kill white-tailed deer. It weighed 875 pounds. Giving animals their space and giving them the ability to remove themselves from the scenario if they want to get out of it is the most important thing, she says. Another seven were taken in the early season," a statement from the game commission said. Its news the Game Commission preferred to share as soon as possible. The state has breeding populations in the western counties of Garrett, Allegany, Frederick, and Washington. Hunters took 737 bears in the archery season, 712 in the muzzleloader/special firearms season, 1,051 in the general season and 663 in the extended season. This story is part of our series, Wild Pennsylvania. The Game Commission estimates that there are about 18,000 bears in the state. The black bear's scientific name is Ursus americanus, which means "American bear." And although there are three species of bears in North America, many wonder if there are bears in Pennsylvania.In 2015, the population of bears in the state was around 20,000. The first is defensive, and the second is predatory. Black bears are typically found across about 75 percent of Pennsylvania, however, there have been confirmed sightings in every county, according to the Pennsylvania Game Commission. And its complicated, A decade after N.J. train derailment, questions linger over rail safety and public health, East Palestine drama students persevere through catastrophic disruption, U.S. Steel reaches tentative settlement with Allegheny County, groups over air pollution following 2018 fire, https://www.alleghenyfront.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/AF081321_RF_Bears.mp3, Frogs and Salamanders Get a New Habitat at Ohiopyle State Park. Photo: Reid R. Frazier / The Allegheny Front, Emily Carrollo is the black bear biologist for the Pennsylvania Game Commission. Because black bears eat so little meat, their teeth do not need to be as sharp and scissor-like as those of meat-eating animals like wolves and cats. Don't invest in fancy cable and pulley arrangements. These animals are still dangerous apex predators. The black bears scientific name is Ursus americanus, which means American bear. And although there are three species of bears in North America, many wonder if there are bears in Pennsylvania. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement (updated 4/4/2023), Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (each updated 1/26/2023). However, the heaviest bear ever taken was in Pike County, Pennsylvania, in 2010. On a summer morning in Tuscarora State Forest, Emily Carrollo crouches in front of a metal bear trap, pointing a small flashlight through the metal grating. The length and timing of hunting seasons is set such that populations with greater human-bear conflicts are reduced or stabilized while areas with few conflicts are allowed to increase. Wildlife officials can then assume that the percentage of tagged bears will be roughly the same in the harvested bears as it is with the total population. The "Bucket Bear" of Perry Township, Clarion County, is free. The latest breaking updates, delivered straight to your email inbox. Consequentially any bears that are sighted in such areas of the state are more than likely just passing through. Its the largest suite of bear-season changes ever approved in a single year, explained Matt Lovallo, agency Game Mammals Section supervisor. Lets say that 4.46% of the harvested bears had ear tags in 2021, and the total amount of tagged bears was 700. we would next need to ascertain what number 700 is 4.46% of. How many of them are out there? By law, Pennsylvania hunters have to bring every bear that they bag to a checking station operated by the Pennsylvania Game Commission. Statewide season harvests by county and region are: Northwest (238): Warren, 67 (59); Clarion, 38 (41); Venango, 35 (78); Forest, 27 (55); Jefferson, 26 (69); Butler, 21 (19); Crawford, 19 (59); Mercer, 4 (13); and Erie, 1 (18). A record number of bear licenses were sold in 2012, 2013 and 2014. With an estimated 18,000 black bears roaming across most of Pennsylvania, your chances of encountering a bear in the state are greater than at any other time over the past several hundred years. At about 1 p.m. Monday, Sept. 1, 2014, just off Rt. Two counties in the state of Pennsylvania have populations of more than one million. Doug Pritts, 57, of Champion, Somerset County, shot the third bear of his life during the rifle season. Southcentral (718): Huntingdon, 177; Bedford, 148; Fulton, 80; Perry, 67; Mifflin, 54; Franklin, 47; Juniata, 42; Blair, 40; Cumberland, 27; Snyder, 24; Adams, 11; and York, 1. That changed after the state placed limits on bear hunting. Then, in 2011, a record harvest of 4,350 bears occurred, which remains today the largest kill on record. Other top counties . Photo: Reid R. Frazier / The Allegheny Front, A tag is placed in each ear to identify the bear if it is captured again, or taken during the bear hunting season. In 2004, approximately 1,000 bears were harvested in the 6,600 square miles open to extended hunting - an area where usually 547 bears were harvested per year before 2002. A huge mistake that people sometimes make is to put food out to attract bears on purpose. Some black bears have a V-shaped white patch on their chest. Sometimes the bears are attracted into close quarters with human populations by their keen sense of smell. It weighed 875 pounds. Could they be roaming close to your backyard? However, areas that are largely agricultural or urban such as the southeastern corner of Pennsylvania and also parts of the western border, lack the forest cover that bears need. Other species that hibernate will enter a much deeper state of hibernation. Data from 2000 onward will also include the Two or more race category. Our library of stories about bears should answer any question you might have. Any comparison with the 1990 census to newer data will include the white, Black, and two categories added that year: American Indian/Alaska Native and Asian or Pacific Islander.. In 2004, hunters took 2,972 bears from 53 counties. Bears were taken in 59 counties. Contiguous woods with bogs, marshes, mountains, and a well-established forest understory make up prime bear habitat. Bountiful Black Bears. This time from Pike County in Northeast Pennsylvania. Here's a look at last year's harvest, from the lowest bear kill to the highest. Special Requests to Use State Game Lands Information, Deer Management Assistance Program (DMAP). He wanted to wait until the weather warmed up before heading out to the woods about noon. For example, the largest bear ever recorded in Lancaster County a 550-pounder was live-trapped at Leola and relocated to Stony Valley in Dauphin County last week. Hunters also harvested 4,164 in 2005. They are generally non-aggressive. Black bears, despite their common name, are not necessarily black. They give ear tags and lip tattoos to these bears as a way to help them estimate the overall black bear population. During this time, juvenile males will be more likely to roam as they are looking for to territory to establish themselves and, of course, females to mate with. However, according to Pennsylvania Game Commission bear specialist Emily Carrollo, there is no reason for concern. According to Emily Carrollo, who is the Pennsylvania Game Commissions black bear biologist, the state trapped, tagged, tattooed, and released around 700 black bears last year in 2021 in its yearly program. None of the bears taken on the final day of the statewide season cracked the Top 10 list for heaviest bears. es a really good-looking bear, she says, before offering something like a scouting report: fantastic body weight, no bony protrusions indicating malnourishment, no signs of mange, a great looking coat of black fur. You might get bears that get fed a few times from people at a campground and then all of a sudden that bear is approaching every other person that visits that campground, Carrollo said. In Pennsylvania, intentionally feeding bears is illegal. Here are some key national-level 2020 Census results to help you see how your state or county compares in each topic area: Population (up 7.4% to 331.4 million). PennLive.com has covered everything about bears in Pennsylvania for many years. Slowing down for animals crossing the road and seeing plenty of wildlife in the community are ordinary interactions for residents of Pennsylvania. In 2020, the official bear count estimate was 20,000. His work has taken him as far away as Texas and Louisiana to report on the petrochemical industry and as close to home as Greene County, Pennsylvania to cover the shale gas boom. Depending on the year, the bear harvest has increased 20 to 80 percent in areas open to extended hunting. 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