Brad Dokken: Are black bears becoming more abundant in North Dakota?
Sep. 22—With the prevalence of trail cameras and social media these days, it's common for critters in the wild to be detected and for people to know about it in a very short time.
Such is the case with black bears in northeast North Dakota.
"It's not really uncommon anymore to just see one or hear of one," Chase Furstenau of Cavalier, North Dakota, said in an interview. "You talk to people, and everybody's seen the same one or a different one, or even 20 miles away, they've got one on camera."
Last Saturday, Sept. 16, Furstenau was in the field with his 14-year-old daughter, Colbie, during North Dakota's youth deer season, when they watched a sizable black bear wander through the field they were hunting.
Furstenau posted a photo of the bear on his Facebook page, and a video of the encounter appeared on the
North Dakota Big Game Showcase
Instagram page, which has some 13,600 followers.
The Instagram clip had over 5,000 views as of Wednesday morning, Sept. 20.
"He totally cleared the field," Furstenau said. "I think we were up to about 22 deer in this 30-40 acre field, and he totally cleared it out."
Anecdotally, it does seem as if black bears are becoming more common in North Dakota, especially the northeast part of the state. It hasn't always been that way, Furstenau said.
"It was a pretty rare occurrence," he said. "You know, maybe once a year, every other year, you'd hear of someone — that's in the whole county, I'm talking — someone knew someone that had a relative who saw a bear.
"And then maybe three years ago is when it started not being as uncommon."
Whether that's because of trail cams and social media or part of an expanding population is difficult to say for sure. One thing's for sure, though: Bear sightings in North Dakota get people talking.
According to data from the North Dakota Game and Fish Department, the number of black bear reports in the state has increased in the past 20 years. In 2004-05, for example, the department had less than five sightings, of which only two or three were verified.
So far this year, the department has gotten 20 reports, of which about 15 were verified. And in 2019-20, the department received more than 50 black bear reports, of which 30 were verified.
At least part of the uptick in 2019-20 likely can be attributed to an
online bear-reporting feature
the Game and Fish Department launched on its website, along with an aggressive media campaign to get the word out, said Stephanie Tucker, furbearer biologist for Game and Fish in Bismarck.
So far, at least, North Dakota doesn't have a breeding population of black bears, according to the Game and Fish Department. Typically, Tucker says, bear reports in North Dakota are less frequent when natural foods such as berries and acorns are abundant in Minnesota and Manitoba, which both have established breeding populations.
"We routinely have bears along the Red River (and its tributaries) and in the Pembina Gorge area, and some bears are overwintering in those areas," Tucker said in an email. As winter approaches, she says, bears are "hyperphagic" — a fancy word which means they're basically always hungry as they fatten up for hibernation.
"So, with the prevalence of deer feeders and trail cameras, we always get an uptick in bear reports this time of year," she said.
Furstenau says he reports bear sightings to Game and Fish and shares trail camera photos he's gotten to help the department get a better handle on how many bears are in the state and perhaps someday offer a season. Despite the frequency of bear reports, there are no immediate plans to offer a limited hunt, such as the mountain lion season the department launched in 2005 to learn more about the elusive, secretive cats, Tucker says.
In addition to not having an established breeding population, North Dakota has a limited abundance of the forest habitat bears need to thrive, she says.
"I'm not convinced we need to let some hunters harvest some bears to find out more about them in North Dakota," Tucker said. "They are pretty conspicuous and with the prevalence of trail cameras, we have a pretty good idea of what is going on.
"And, until we have multiple females giving birth in dens in North Dakota — as opposed to a female wandering in with some cubs for part of the summer or fall — any harvest could be viewed as more of a removal program than a sustainable hunting season. We're always open to ideas, though."
For more information on bears in North Dakota, check out the
Game and Fish website
