Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency
Tennessee Black Bear Management
Current and Projected Status
Black bears (Ursus americanus) are an important wildlife resource of the forests of Tennessee. In recent years Tennessee's bear management program has become an emerging success story. Strong enforcement of game laws and effective management techniques have resulted in increasing populations and harvests. However, the status of Tennessee’s bear population hasn't’t always been so healthy.
Tennessee's bear population is shared with the states of Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Collectively, this population is known as the Southern Appalachian population. Recognition that bear management in the adjoining states might impact Tennessee's bear program resulted in the formation of the Tri-State Black Bear Study team in 1976, composed of the states of Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee. This group completed its report on the status of the black bears in the southern Appalachians in 1983 (TWRA Technical Report No. 83-9). In 1990, the group was re-formed, and expanded to include the state of South Carolina, which has a small population in the western portion of that state. The group is now known as the Southern Appalachian Black Bear Study Group, and meets semi-annually to share data and information, and discuss issues pertinent to bear management. Presently, bears exist in adequate numbers in eleven Tennessee counties (Blount, Carter, Cocke, Greene, Johnson, Monroe, Polk, Sevier, Sullivan, Unicoi, and Washington) along the eastern border of the state.
According to recent estimates, the Southern Appalachian region (excluding Virginia) supports a population of approximately 6,500 bears, of which 1,000 to 1,500 are estimated to be in Tennessee. In addition to the Southern Appalachian population found in eastern Tennessee, there is a disjunct population present in the Big South Fork region of Tennessee and Kentucky, comprised of Campbell, Fentress, Morgan and Scott counties in Tennessee. This population is a result of a repatriation project initiated in 1995. The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency is currently exploring approaches to continue the restoration of this population.
The current status of Tennessee's black bear population is good. Bait station surveys, conducted annually since 1981, indicate that the population increased significantly during the 1980's. The legal harvest of bears further indicates a relatively abundant bear population. Since 1981, the legal harvest has increased from a low of 21 bears in 1982, to 370 in 1997. Some of the increase in the legal harvest can be attributed to the establishment of a 5-day October season in counties surrounding GSMNP, which was first initiated in 1987. Depending on the year and the availability of hard mast within GSMNP, this early season has produced between 2 and 253 bears in the total harvest. The early season has been most successful during years when hard mast was scarce within the Park, resulting in greater bear movements outside GSMNP, and a higher bear harvest.
Past, Present and Future Use
Historically, black bears existed throughout the state of Tennessee. Dramatic land use changes resulted in the decline of black bear populations by the 1880's, with bears present only in the forested areas of the eastern part of the state. Further population declines occurred due to large scale logging and subsequent habitat destruction in the period from 1900 to 1930. Excessive hunting and trapping contributed to the decline, and by 1930 bears were present only in a few isolated areas of Tennessee, North Carolina and Georgia. With the establishment of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP), the Chattahoochee (GA), Pisgah (NC), Nantahala (NC), and Cherokee (TN) National Forests in the 1930's, it appeared that black bears would return to some of their former range as vegetation matured and wildlife was protected by state and federal agencies. However, the American chestnut blight became established in the 1940's, and significantly impacted the forests and wildlife resources of the Southern Appalachians. Bear populations apparently declined again.
Prior to the 1970's, there is a general paucity of reliable information on the status of bear populations in Tennessee. We do have records from bear hunting seasons starting in1951, and we also know that the season was closed after the 1969 season for 3 years, 1970-72, because of concerns over low bear populations. The year 1973 more or less marks the beginning of Tennessee’s modern era in black bear management. This is significant because the Agency got serious about its bear management program, with increased emphasis on research and monitoring, habitat protection, and enforcement of wildlife regulations.
In recent years, Tennessee's bear management program has focused on three primary issues: 1) enforcement of game laws to reduce the illegal kill; 2) protection of the female segment of the population, and; 3) efforts to minimize habitat degradation. Law enforcement has been a key component of the bear management program for a number of years. Bear gall bladders and other bear parts are highly sought after in the illegal wildlife trade market. Though black bear populations are in generally good shape in North America, the species was added to Appendix III of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in 1991, largely because of its "look alike nature" to Asian black bears, and the difficulty in distinguishing its parts from those of other bear species. It was hoped that the black bear's inclusion in CITES would help reduce the illegal trade of the Asian species of bears, whose numbers are in serious decline.
The protection of females from excessive hunting mortality is considered to be an important aspect of the overall bear management program. In 1973, 4 sanctuaries with no bear hunting were established on a total of 136,000 acres, with the purpose of creating nucleus areas of breeding females protected from hunting. In 1997, two new bear sanctuaries in the northeastern portion of Tennessee were added to the sanctuary system: Laurel Fork Bear Sanctuary (34,529 acres) and Kettlefoot Bear Sanctuary (39,190 acres). Including GSMNP (241,000 acres), where hunting is prohibited, there are a total of 450,413 acres of bear sanctuaries in Tennessee.
Protection of female bears from excessive hunting mortality was further enhanced in 1981 with the establishment of a late hunting season. This simple change in hunting strategy reduced the percentage of females in the harvest from 56% before 1981 to about 37%, even though the total harvest has increased substantially since 1981. However, since 1990, the percentage of females in the harvest has increased somewhat, to around 42% annually. There is concern about this increase, and the Agency plans to monitor the increasing female bear harvest over the next several years, and its potential impact on the population.
Habitat degradation is a more problematic issue, and certainly less understood. The forests of eastern Tennessee have changed over the last 60 years, from a system in which the American chestnut, a reliable mast producer, has been replaced by oaks, which are less reliable. The oak forests are maturing, with over 70% of the forests in the Southern Appalachians in mid- to late-successional stages (Southern Appalachian Assessment, 1996). Other issues which are of concern in relation to black bear habitat include hard mast availability, density of roads, and availability of denning habitat. To address these issues, the Agency has supported efforts to develop habitat models which can quantitatively monitor and measure the effects of changes in key habitat factors.
Harvest Information
Black bear hunting seasons were established in Tennessee in the early 1930's. Harvest records have been kept since 1951. Regulations changed little until 1970 when the season was closed through 1972 because of low population levels. Since 1973, and prior to 1997, Tennessee’s legal bear harvest has ranged from a low of 9 in 1975, to a high of 124 in 1990. The 1997 season was an extraordinary one, with 370 bears harvested. The unusual events surrounding the 1997 season are reported on later in this section.
In 1997, there was also an expansion of bear hunting opportunities in three northeastern Tennessee counties: Carter, Johnson, and Sullivan counties. These 3 counties were opened for the first time with a 5-day hunt in December, 1997, harvesting a total of 12 black bears.
1997 was an unusual year in Tennessee relative to black bear activities. Incidents of bear/human conflicts, and bear damage rose dramatically, primarily due to increased numbers of bears, and because of a general scarcity of natural fall foods. The situation was most acute in the area around Gatlinburg, which is situated adjacent to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP), a large natural area which provides habitat for a large number of bears. Bears found Gatlinburg to be an attractive place because of the abundance of garbage associated with area hotels, restaurants, and residences. Due to the fact that bear numbers have increased substantially over the last several years, and natural foods were in short supply during the fall of 1997, the bear harvest (370) exceeded our stated harvest objective (75 bears harvested per year), and the previous state record (124 bears in 1990). The bulk of the harvest (253; 68%) occurred during a 7-day period (October 13-19) in Blount, Sevier and Cocke counties, which are adjacent to GSMNP. The heavy bear harvest in the Gatlinburg area during October 1997 caused considerable public controversy, and resulted in numerous letters, phone calls, editorials and news reports on the situation. Much of the controversy centered on conflicts between bear hunters and the citizens and landowners of the Gatlinburg area. Much of the public were also bothered by the high level of bear harvest, and expressed concern over harvest impacts on the population.
As a result of the high harvest of 1997, and the public controversy surrounding it, the Agency delayed its setting of the 1998 bear season until bait station surveys were conducted during the summer of 1998. Bait station surveys indicated that the bear population had not been significantly impacted, so the normal seasons were set, with the exception that date frameworks for the early season were adjusted to minimize conflicts between bear hunters and Gatlinburg visitors during the peak visiting period of October. In addition to the biological data collections and evaluation of the 1997 harvest, TWRA participated in several meetings with Gatlinburg officials in an attempt to develop some kind of strategy for dealing with the accessibility of garbage in the area. In September, 1999, the City of Gatlinburg adopted an ordinance requiring animal-proof garbage containers for private residents and commercial businesses in certain areas of the city.
Literature Cited
Anonymous. 1995. Big Game Harvest Report, 1994-95. TWRA Technical Report No. 95-4. ___ pp.
Anonymous. 1996. Big Game Harvest Report, 1995-96. TWRA Technical Report No. 96-2. ___ pp.
Anonymous. 1997. Big Game Harvest Report, 1996-97. TWRA Technical Report No. 97-2. ___ pp.
Anonymous. 1998. Big Game Harvest Report, 1997-98. TWRA Technical Report No. 98-1. 243 pp.
Anonymous. 1999. Big Game Harvest Report, 1998-99. TWRA Technical Report No. 99-1. ___ pp.
Strategic Wildlife Resources Management Plan Year 2000-2006. TWRA Publication. Chapter 3.
Eastridge, Rick, and J. D. Clark. In progress. An experimental repatriation of black bears into the Big South Fork area of Kentucky and Tennessee. Draft final report to TWRA.
Southern Appalachian Man and the Biosphere (SAMAB). 1996. The Southern Appalachian Assessment Summary Report. Report 1 of 5. Atlanta: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Region.
Southern Appalachian Man and the Biosphere (SAMAB). 1996. The Southern Appalachian Assessment Terrestrial Technical Report. Report 5 of 5. Atlanta: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Region.
Van Manen, Frank T., and M. R. Pelton. 1996. Habitat Use by Black Bears on Cherokee National Forest, Tennessee. TWRA Technical Report No. 96-8. 131 pp.
