Black Bear Spotted in Middle Tennessee

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The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency has received reports of a bear travelling through the middle-Tennessee area this week.

black bear in ClarksvilleOn August 25, Matt Powell checked the trail cameras he uses for deer hunting and found photos of a black bear walking through his hunting area near Clarksville. Another hunter checking his trail cameras found pictures of a bear walking through his Davidson County property, near Joelton, ten days earlier. The TWRA believes this bear is the same animal that was seen in the Logan County, KY area on August 11.

TWRA spokesman Barry Cross says, “It is not unusual for a young bear to travel a long distance seeking an area to call his home range. Quite often, cubs that reach 1-2 years of age are kicked out of the maternal group and must go and establish an area for themselves and they can and will cover a lot of territory during that time.” Cross went on to say, “Bears are expanding their range in Tennessee from the north and east and while it will probably be years before the middle-Tennessee area is home to a breeding population of black bears we will continue to experience this type of activity.”

The TWRA wants everyone to remember that bears are wild animals and if you see one to observe it from a distance, alter yourroute of travel, return the way you came or wait until it leaves the area. For more information on how to deal with a bear in your area go to bearwise.org.

If you capture a photo or see a black bear in your area the TWRA would like for you to report it by going to Report a Bear Sighting at tnwildlife.org.

Black bears once inhabited the entire state but, when the first settlers arrived, were viewed as a threat to livestock and human safety. That fear paired with unregulated hunting eliminated bears from all but 11 mountainous counties in Tennessee. The 1970’s marked the beginning of the modern era in bear management. Since that time bear population numbers have steadily increased to the current estimate of approximately 6,000 bears.