Bear Sightings Increase -- What You Can Do

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Published on Wednesday, 27 April 2011 15:02

The number of bear sightings in town has increased recently. The last time there were a number of reports of bears seen in town, last summer, The Ave Herald carried the following story on advice for keeping bears away. It is reprinted now for residents' information.
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Bears that have been sighted in Ave Maria in the last few months are most likely drawn by food inadvertently or carelessly made available by residents, according to officials of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The FWC, which has authority for managing the bear population in Florida, has a number of recommendations for ways to discourage bears.

"Bears will find the easiest source of food they can," said FWC spokesperson Joy Hill. "We can't change bear behavior, but we can change human behavior."

The FWC received an average of about 1,600 reports a year of bears in residential areas throughout Florida during the last three years. The number of sightings reported in south Florida -- which includes Ft. Myers, Naples, Miami and the Florida Keys - is a small percentage of those, averaging 60 per year. (See map below that illustrates this area)

Unprompted attacks by bears on people in Florida are almost non-existant, Ms. Hill said. The FWC received only three reports in the last year of any incidents involving bears threatening people, all of which were in the northern part of the state and involved a person feeding bears and getting between a mother bear and her cubs, Ms. Hill said. "We have never had a bear attack in Florida in which a person was killed," she added.

Although the commission will as a last resort remove nuisance bears from communities, Ms. Hill said such action is rare and only taken after the commission is satisfied that residents are doing everything possible to keep bears away.

"Our main advice is to take steps first to ensure that bears are not attracted by food sources," she said. "Nine times out of ten, if our advice is followed, the bear problem disappears." (photo courtesy FWC)

The key recommendations are:

• Properly store and secure garbage cans. Keep garbage cans in the garage until the morning of pick-up, and keep the garage door closed.
• Always put garbage inside a dumpster, and close any access to it. Never leave garbage outside a dumpster.
• Remove any bird feeders from the property.
• Do not feed pets outside, and never leave pet food outdoors.
• Do not leave food on barbecue grills.
• Consider a screened room the same as outdoors and don't leave any food there that can attract bears.

A checklist for residents to assess whether they are doing everything possible to discourage bears is available for download in PDF format here.

"Just one person acting irresponsibly can affect the whole community," said Elizabeth Fleming of the organization Defenders of Wildlife. Her organization will have a booth at Oktoberfest in the Ave Maria down center Oct. 23 to answer questions and offer advice for dealing with bears and other animals that live in the area.

The Fish and Wildlife Commission has developed a long-range plan for managing the Florida bear population, and that plan assumes the bear population in south Florida will stay level or even increase over the next 10-20 years. The plan can be read at this link on the FWC website.

The commission also has a pamphlet on dealing with bears, and other advice, at its website www.myfwc.com/bear.

Should you encounter a bear, the FWC recommends the following:

• Leave it alone
• Remain standing upright
• Avoid direct eye contact
• Back up slowly and speak in a calm assertive, assuring voice
• Make sure the bear has an escape route
• Do not run from the bear
• If the bear is not aware of you, make noise to alert the bear to your presence if it is nearby and leave the area. Otherwise, just leave the area.

It is illegal in Florida to feed or kill bears. The FWC maintains a 24-hour hotline for reporting wildlife incidents, or situations that could attract bears or other wild animals, at 888-404-3922.

The Defenders of Wildlife also recommends caution when driving, particularly in early morning hours and after dark, to reduce the chance of colliding with an animal.

The map below shows the FWC's proposed Big Cypress bear management area. The FWC estimates the bear population in this area to be between 500 and 900 bears.