Biologists counting state's black bears

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Are the bears that wander the Ozarks woods native Missourians, or are they interlopers that wandered north from Arkansas?

Agents from the Missouri Department of Conservation hope to answer that question and others in a kind of bear census taking place this summer.

Working with a biology professor from the University of Missouri-Columbia, conservation agents are setting out bait stations to attract black bears and placing strands of barbed wire nearby to snag fur samples.

DNA tests on the bear hair will yield vital genetic data, such as a given animal's sex and whether any bears are being born in Missouri.

Conservation Department wildlife biologist Dave Hamilton said the information will indicate whether Missouri's bear population has become self-sustaining or is still made up of border-crossers from Arkansas.

Black bears are native to Missouri and Arkansas but were wiped out by the early 1900s, Hamilton said. Arkansas imported bears from Minnesota in the 1950s to revive its population and now has about 3,500.

Missouri's current population is estimated at 350. They're concentrated in southwestern counties and in the eastern Ozarks along the Current River, but have also turned up as close to St. Louis as southern Jefferson County, Hamilton said.

On Tuesday, University of Missouri assistant biology professor Lori Eggert was working with conservation agents in Shannon County choosing sites for bait stations.

Eggert, who is doing the hair testing, said this summer's research is a preliminary effort that could help determine whether a long-term study is warranted.

The numbers could affect how the Conservation Department manages Missouri's bear population and whether the agency will allow bear hunting, which Arkansas began in 1980, Hamilton said.

"That's one of the ultimate questions -- where are we now along that growth curve that would call for a hunting season?" he said. "Are we decades away from it, or are we a few short years from it?"

Black bears naturally keep their distance from humans, so sightings cause plenty of excitement.

In early June, a juvenile bear crossed two county lines in southwest Missouri as it wandered from Hurley to Billings to Republic, near Wilson's Creek National Battlefield, and then to Nixa. It was trapped and released in an isolated area.

Hamilton said bears would have more to fear from humans than vice versa.

"By nature, they tend to be nocturnal and avoid humans at all costs," he said.

But the temptation of easy eats -- from garbage cans or camp sites -- can make bears more comfortable around humans.

In Christian County last year, a bear that was lured to a home with dog food eventually had to be trapped and released in an isolated area, Hamilton said. That bear became so accustomed to humans it chased people and eventually was shot, he said.

Linda Chorice, manager of the Springfield Conservation Nature Center, said more encounters are likely if bears become more prevalent.

"The message we're constantly giving people is enjoy them from a distance, respect their habitat and don't try to make a pet of a wild animal," she said.