Former animal curator writes about bears and what number is too many

• Bears are not cuddily, just look at their claws

With at least three reported Black Bear attacks in New Mexico only a few weeks apart, the question arises, “Are there too many Bears among us?”  Because there is no 100 percent accurate census method for counting any kind of creature in the bush or even humans in cities, we cannot rely on bear head counts alone.  A more pragmatic gauge involves the frequency of encounters with people, which tells us little about real bear numbers.

No truly accurate method exists for counting wildlife of any kind under all circumstances, so we depend on sampling methods, each of which are expensive and prone to errors. Twenty-five types of bears of about eight species in the world are classified as carnivores.  Most, like the Black and larger Brown or Grizzly-type bears are generalists, but there are at least two specialists:  The Polar Bear, which is found on Arctic ice and whose numbers are being threatened by loss of habitat tied to Arctic ice melt, and the Giant Panda which is a living taxonomic oxymoron, living its life eating bamboo.

Bears are found circum-globally in the Northern Hemisphere with one exception, the Spectacled Bear that lives in the South American Andes.  Curiously, there are no bears in Africa.  Also, as big as they are, bears are not man-eaters with the sole exception being the Polar Bear that may, if it deems necessary, track down a human.

Although classified as carnivores, bears typically are omnivorous, eating all manner of digestible material, whether of animal or plant origin.  Their diet includes insects and berries, as well as large carcasses whether fresh or carrion.  Bears are big, which makes them poor candidates for sneaking up on a deer or bison.  However, they will kill and eat young of any large species, including their own if they get lucky.  Basically, they forage by turning over rocks, stripping bark off dead trees, feasting on berries when ripe and some, like the big Brown Bears, have learned to slap fish out of fast-flowing northern streams.

Bears have a disarming reputation. Based on the Teddy-Bear and Smoky Bear images, these animals often are portrayed as benign and even friendly. They are not. Based on my zoo background, I would far rather take my chances with a cougar (sometimes called, wrongly, a mountain lion) than to try and negotiate with a bear.  Just compare the number of bear attacks to the far fewer number of cougar attacks and I rest my case.  In fact, keepers in zoos are sometimes lulled into a false sense of security with bears, a circumstance that rarely happens with big cats.  The bottom line is that more injuries, including fatal, are sustained from bears in zoos than from any other carnivores.

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Precautions are very appropriate when hiking in the company of New Mexico’s top predators.  If I am concerned about cougars, which is rare, I carry a small “pop open” umbrella that I would use to scare the animal if necessary.  In spite of them being around, I have never had the occasion to try it out, but my response time would be faster than taking off my shirt and waving it to “shoo” the cat away.  Cougars are the largest of the small cats and behave like them.

What to do about bear encounters?  Just stay away from them. Sometimes I carry a can of small pebbles that rattle when I walk, making the kind of noise that bears prefer to avoid.  However, I do not know of any 100 percent effective bear deterrent.  An avoidance method that might work for “Bear A” may not work with “Bear B.” 

People who mess around with bears frequently (and remarkably) walk away from the encounter unscathed, which underscores how patient bears might be, but don’t count on it. When a bear in a national park strolls out onto the highway, especially with cubs, cars come to a sudden halt and a line-up frequently occurs. People even get out of their car to approach bears. Clearly, the mother bear has brought her cubs out on the roadway for one purpose, food and snacks.

People, on the other hand, may give the bears some food, even from their fingers, in exchange for a photo. The public may be seen gathering around bears on the highway and even trying to set a child on the back of one for a picture. Meanwhile, any zoo and wildlife professionals in the vicinity would be seen no closer to such a scene than the nearest hill-top watching the event through binoculars in a state of high anxiety and disbelief.

How many bears are too many? That depends on several variables including space to roam, availability of water, and food resources. Like raising bison or cattle on a range, 100 acres can accommodate 100 cows on a ranch in Florida where rainfall and grass is abundant. However, if a severe drought happens on that same ranch, a single cow may have difficulty finding enough graze on 50 acres.

A drought can have the same effect on bears. These animals depend heavily on vegetation and moisture-loving creatures like insects and other small animals, which will begin to disappear. Bears are not altruistic even under the most food-abundant circumstances and will not share food with each other. Thus, if a bear has just lost an argument to a larger bear over food and its short temper is now even shorter, it may raid a camper or walk through a screen door to get some bacon in a kitchen. If its mission is successful, it may repeat the process again a day or so later. If or when a drought happens, a population of animals, like bears, is going to be adversely impacted.  Encounters with people are likely to be more frequent since bears, like any other species in a similar fix, must walk further and search harder for food. Just because a drought happens doesn’t mean that an appropriate number of bears are going to get up and migrate somewhere else. Bears don’t understand droughts, but they do respond to hunger when food becomes scarce.  Consequently, bears are smart and big enough to know they can make demands that they might not make during times of plenty.   

During weather extremes such as drought, bears may go on producing young, since animals in the bush are much more familiar with resources available in their territory than humans. If a mother bear knows where water such as a spring can be found and has access to a food source in a famine, her young will not only survive but thrive even if other, more naïve bears are not so fortunate. In any case, many of the cubs born during a drought will not survive due to either direct or indirect causes.   

The more stressful the living conditions become, the less patience a bear may have when approached by another animal, including humans. This is especially true if bears need to compete more intensely between each other and are forced to adjust to dumpster-diving even in a city.

By the way, taking a walk in bear country can be more complicated, if you take your pet dog or dogs with you. Leashed or not, dogs do not savvy bears any more than most people do and can create more problems than they solve, if they run up to a bear and begin to bark.  Bear hounds have an advantage and are usually good at keeping out of the way of snapping jaws or well-aimed paw swings. The operant word here is “usually,” because less adept dogs will be taken out of the gene pool almost immediately by a bear during an encounter. Instead, take along a human friend. 

Dogs, a bear and a human sharing the same space introduces three unpredictable variables, none of them good. Not only will the bear’s and the dog’s reactions be unpredictable, but so might yours. If someone has a loving pet that refuses to come away from a bear when called, a human might think they can dash in, grab their dog and run off, saving their pet.  Forget it!  Bears will treat every other creature in their vicinity as a supreme annoyance; an adversary. If the bear attacks you, it can out-run you. As difficult as it may be, leave your dog at once and fade off into the distance.  If the dog survives the encounter, and many do, you will get your pet back.  If the bear emerges victorious, you at least have your life and your limbs.

Nothing can be as comical or fascinating as bears that sometimes push the line with each other.  Once while a group of us were watching Brown Bears slapping Salmon out of an Alaskan stream, I was distracted by two young cubs and their mother looking for grubs.  Suddenly her attention became focused on something back across the broad meadow in the direction from where they had come. A huge boar bear, at least twice the mother’s size, was ambling in her direction obviously following her scent, or maybe that of two potentially delicious cubs. The female lingered unhurriedly, turning her attention back to grubbing. The kids, however, were very intrigued by the huge male wandering toward them.

When the boar had approached within half the length of a football field, the female swung into action.  With a “whoof,” she instructed her kids to “stay put.”  With a roar, she dashed off toward the huge male who seemed stupefied for just a moment and then decided on flight, not fight. Retracing his steps his trot became a gallop and as the enraged female continued to close the distance fast, the huge male had to resort to an all-out, undignified run. The kids, meanwhile stood precisely where they were told, stretching as tall as they could on their hind feet, craning their blond heads to watch their Mother in action. It wasn’t until the boar had disappeared into the forest a half mile away that the female slowed, turned, and then began to retrace her steps back toward her kids.  The kids never dared leave their spot until several minutes later when their Mother arrived and quietly gave them the “all clear.” If there was a take-home message, the old boar got it.. And, if I had to come back as a bear I know who I would want for my mother!