They’re big, they’re furry, and they’re only getting closer to your backyard.
This year, for the first time, state officials are encouraging people in Raleigh, Durham, and the rest of the Piedmont to learn how to live with bears. It’s an expansion of an awareness campaign that’s already well known in the mountains.
The campaign comes as bear populations are growing statewide, and breeding populations of bears are inching closer to the Triangle.
“It’s a new thing when a bear shows up in Raleigh and everybody kind of freaks out,” said North Carolina Wildlife Resource Commission biologist Greg Batts.
Batts says waterways and greenways can act as bear highways, with young male bears already passing through the area.
“They use and roam across a large space. They’re here today and gone tomorrow,” said Batts.
According to the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, the state is home to more than 20,000 bears, a population that’s growing at a rate of about 3% each year. Already bears are living and mating in Vance, Warren, Franklin, Edgecomb, Wilson, and more counties, and are expanding their range by about 3-5 miles each year. That’s leading to more conflict with humans, and more calls to wildlife control officers.
To avoid that conflict, the Wildlife Resource Commission is encouraging people to be “Bear Wise” and follow guidelines laid out by state wildlife agency experts from across the nation.
The tips include rinsing out garbage cans, keeping smelly food scraps frozen till trash day, and taking in bird feeders when there’s bear activity close to your home.
“It’s common sense,” said Batts.
The state does try to control the bear population, largely through hunting, which Batts says kills about 4,400 bears each year.
Still, the population continues to grow, and Batts says the best solution is for people to learn to live with the latest transplants to the Triangle.
“I just encourage people, hey, if you see one, enjoy seeing it,” said Batts. “And then inform your neighbors.”