Urban Black Bears:Easy Living, Followed by Early Demise

A new study says that black bears in suburban areas weigh on average 30 percent more than wilderness bears and have cubs earlier because they are so well-fed, but die considerably younger, usually from collisions with vehicles. The study, conducted by the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society and published in the journal Human-Wildlife Conflicts, concludes that despite the garbage-eating life suburban bears enjoy, their migration to developed areas is detrimental to overall bear populations because so many are lured from wilderness areas, only to die prematurely. Conducted over 10 years near Lake Tahoe, Nevada, the study followed 12 suburban bears and 10 “wildland” bears. The suburban bears reproduced on average at 4 to 5 years, as compared to 7 to 8 years for wilderness bears. But all 12 suburban bears tracked by the researchers died by age 10 from vehicle collisions, while six of the 10 wilderness bears survived.