{"id":630764,"date":"2025-09-07T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-07T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/?p=630764"},"modified":"2025-09-08T13:57:50","modified_gmt":"2025-09-08T17:57:50","slug":"why-is-vermonts-bear-population-booming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/2025\/09\/07\/why-is-vermonts-bear-population-booming\/","title":{"rendered":"Why is Vermont\u2019s bear population booming?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Two
Vermont Fish & Wildlife staff measure a black bear as part of a newly launched survey this summer. Photo courtesy of Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For the fourth year in a row, the number of black bears in Vermont far outpaced what the state considers an ideal population size.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year, the state had an estimated 6,800 to 8,000 bears, nearly double the objective of 3,500 to 5,500 bears, outlined by a Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department population model. The state calculates its goal for Vermont’s bear population based on a range of variables, including what is healthy for the bears and ecosystem, as well as humans’ attitudes toward the risk of conflict with the animals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why is the population doing so well? There are two big factors that determine population size, said Jaclyn Comeau, the Black Bear Project leader at the state Fish & Wildlife Department: mortality rates and reproduction rates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The state has a pretty good sense of what is influencing bear mortality, she said. Hunters are responsible for most premature bear deaths, followed by vehicle collisions. Freak accidents, like a bear chewing an electrical wire, can also cause a bear\u2019s early death. Still, populations are continuing to \u201cgrow and grow,\u201d Comeau said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking at reproduction is \u201ckind of that missing piece of information that we don’t have\u201d when it comes to understanding what drives that trend, according to Comeau. A new study launched this summer aims to tackle that question and better pinpoint what type of habitat and food availability supports healthy bear birth rates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since the 1980s, the \u201cbackbone\u201d to steady population growth has been the wider recovery of suitable habitat for bears, Comeau said, as forest grew back across a landscape previously dominated by deforestation and farm land. The agricultural Vermont of the 1940s and 1950s left bears confined to the spine of the Green Mountains, she said. In those days, killing bears was far more common, without the hunting regulations and restricted season Vermont has today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, the Fish & Wildlife Department would like to better understand how availability of different food sources might influence where the bears go and how successful they are in reproduction, especially as they spread down from the mountains. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the mountains, beechnuts are bears\u2019 primary fall food source, but the trees\u2019 nut production pulses every two or three years. Historically, bear populations have risen and fallen with these cycles.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the valleys, oak trees \u2014 and thus, acorns \u2014 are more abundant and more consistent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe’re wondering if now that the bear population has moved out of the mountains, if they’re accessing higher-quality habitat where food is more consistent,\u201d Comeau said. \u201cNow that they’re in the valleys, potentially, the habitat might be more productive and allowing their populations to grow.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To answer that, the department\u2019s study<\/a> follows 18 adult female bears fitted with GPS tracking collars that allow biologists to see where the bears are, presumably getting food. The study aims to isolate these two distinct habitat areas by looking at nine bears in the Connecticut River Valley and nine others in the southern Green Mountains. In the winter, the scientists will visit the bears\u2019 dens to confirm how many cubs the mother has, with the intent of following the family and cub survival through their first year of life. Fish & Wildlife anticipates letting the survey run for six years in order to collect enough data to draw conclusions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Better understanding the conditions in which bears are thriving will allow the department to better protect and manage their habitat, Comeau said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The prosperity of Vermont\u2019s black bears is a rare success, as many species decline due to habitat loss, changes in food availability and environmental shifts, among a range of other environmental shifts brought on by climate change. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Black bears are especially flexible when it comes to habitat and food. As omnivores, they can survive off multiple food sources, and their wide range, from Florida and Mexico to Canada, shows they can adapt to a variety of habitats and temperatures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still it does not mean that a changing climate will leave the bears unaffected, Comeau said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Comeau worries what the encroachment of beech leaf disease in Vermont\u2019s forests<\/a> will mean for the bear population over the next decade. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And as Vermont\u2019s winter season shrinks, people should expect bears to enter hibernation later in the year and emerge earlier in the spring. That, plus a growing population spreading beyond the mountains, makes bears more likely to encounter humans. For Comeau, this underscores a need to figure out how to foster the best coexistence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The department added that Vermont\u2019s bear hunting season started Monday and runs through Nov. 14. Hunters are allowed to kill collared bears, but Fish & Wildlife asks that they avoid killing bears accompanied by cubs and that they return any collars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Correction: An earlier version of this story mischaracterized how the state calculates the bear population.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The state Fish & Wildlife Department is leading a study to find out. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1831,"featured_media":630766,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"single-feature.php","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","apple_news_api_created_at":"2025-09-07T10:00:08Z","apple_news_api_id":"0a505b28-c5ae-4a8f-8615-bdb9324d9822","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2025-09-08T17:57:49Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AClBbKMWuSo-GFb25Mk2YIg","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"everlit_article_id":"","everlit_hide_embed":false,"everlit_embed_size":"","everlit_generation_settings":[],"_everlit_article_id":"","_everlit_hide_embed":false,"_everlit_embed_size":"","_everlit_generation_settings":[],"_everlit_content_hash":"","_everlit_metadata_hash":"","_newspack_byline_active":false,"_newspack_byline":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"The state Fish & Wildlife Department is leading a study to find out. ","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[162356],"tags":[28200,4324,8685],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"govpack_profile_tax":[],"coauthors":[171839],"class_list":["post-630764","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-environment","tag-black-bears","tag-environment","tag-fish-wildlife-department","entry"],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhy is Vermont\u2019s bear population booming? - VTDigger<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/2025\/09\/07\/why-is-vermonts-bear-population-booming\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why is Vermont\u2019s bear population booming? 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