OCR Text |
Show Are Black Bears Invading Utah? In the last month, parts of Utah have been invaded with small black bears. Rodney John, big game supervisor of the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, reports that at least 24 black bear cubs have come down from their mountain moun-tain ranges into or near towns in lower elevations. "ITS A BIT of a surprise. The cubs are young and should be with the sows this time of year. We have never witnessed such regular appearances ap-pearances in Utah before, but we are aware that it has happened hap-pened in other states," John said. He continued, "Idaho has experienced similar problems in years past." John indicated that the exact reason for the cubs showing up is not known, but game managers in the Division theorize that the late frosts (mid-June) and drought conditions this year had a significant effect on the vegetative growth in areas throughout the state. "SPECIFICALLY, THE frosts and drought affected the berry and acorn crops that bears depend on to build up fat reserves before hibernating. hiber-nating. This means that bears are now having to work pretty hard to find enough food to build up those reserves, said John. Mr. John continued, "The direct effect, we believe, is that the sows, without the fat reserve or perhaps even adequate nutrition for themselves, them-selves, are not able or willing to suckle the cubs. THEY WILL, in situations like this, kick the cubs off and leave them on their own. It's a strong self-preservation instinct. in-stinct. The cubs, left on their own, seem motivated to move to lower elevations, perhaps following the water courses down." Since the situation may continue to occur, people should be aware that the cubs are generally harmless if left alone. Do not attempt to capture cap-ture the animal. Notify the nearest conservation officer. He will make the necessary arrangements to take the cub back to the mountains where it is best suited for survival. "EVIDENCE from other states indicates that the cubs have a good chance of survival sur-vival even though they are young," John concluded. One more note for those who think the bears would be cute to have around for a little while: It is illegal to capture, harass or hold the bears unless, of course, the cubs molest livestock or constitute a threat to human safety. |