די געשיכטע וויאזוי מענדל שווימער'ס אייניקל איז פארצוקט געווארן דורך א בער, (רח"ל) צום ערשטן מאל אין די געשיכטע פון ניו יארק, האט געפירט דערצו אז די רעגירונג האט זיך גענומען קעגן בערן
Helping humans avoid bears is program's goal
The Associated Press
Ithaca – Since training wild black bears isn't really feasible, Cornell University researchers will focus on people in a pilot program intended to reduce the growing number of interactions between humans and the state's largest carnivore.
New York's first documented bear-related human fatality occurred in 2002 in Sullivan County's Woodridge.
On Aug. 19, 2002, a North American black bear snatched 5-month-old Esty Schwimmer from her stroller and killed her. She had been sitting outside a family bungalow.
"Be a good neighBEAR and don't feed the bears. If you remove the food, you remove the bear," is the message that Cornell researchers want to implant with local residents, said Meredith Gore, a Cornell researcher who is conducting and evaluating the summertime education program.
The project will be carried out in two Hudson Valley communities – Woodstock and Warwick.
"To be successful, we'll have to change human behavior. Bear behavior won't change readily," said Paul Curtis, a professor of natural resources and coordinator of Cornell's Wildlife Damage Management Program, who has been working with Gore.
"The changing landscape has been prompting bear problems," Gore said. "Land that used to be agricultural and has become young forest are ideal bear habitats. With increasing bear populations and recent droughts, bears are venturing further for food, often visiting suburban and rural developments and encountering bird feeders and garbage."
The program will educate residents about ways to make homes less attractive to hungry, wandering bears, such as burning off grease each time an outdoor grill is used, feeding pets indoors, putting out bird feeders only during winter months, keeping garbage indoors until the morning of its scheduled pickup and protecting beehives and livestock with electric fencing.
Black bears – the state's second-largest animal after the moose – now inhabit almost every county in the state, Gore said. There are approximately 8,000 bears roaming New York and human-bear conflicts have been steadily increasing, particularly throughout the Adirondacks, the Catskill Forest Preserve and Allegany and Steuben counties in southwestern New York, along the Pennsylvania border.
"It's not only a regional problem now, but even a national problem," Gore said.
There have been 600 bear complaints filed this year in New Jersey, for instance.
Gore said the education program will use several methods from refrigerator magnets to billboards. Each method will be evaluated for its effectiveness in changing human behavior, she said.
The Times Herald-Record contributed to this report.
Some bear facts
Name – Black bear or Ursus americanus.
Size – Adults stand 2½ to 3 feet high at the shoulder; they can reach up to 6 feet tall balanced on their hind legs.
Weight – Average about 200 pounds, but can reach up to 600 pounds. The state record is 750 pounds.
Habits – Shy and secretive, the black bear prefers mature forests interspersed with areas of open meadows; they are most active at dawn and dusk.
Eats – A variety of fruit, nuts, acorns, insects, succulent greens and animal flesh.
Range – Bears wander large areas up to 15 miles in diameter.
Hibernation – Black bears usually enter hibernation by the end of November and re-emerge around April.
Mating – Black bears reach maturity between 3-7 years; mating occurs from late May through early July, producing one to four cubs during January and early February. Females have litters every two to four years.
Life span – Black bears can live up to 33 years.
Harvest – In 2004, hunters killed 1,014 bears, the third-highest take on record.
The Associated Press
Ithaca – Since training wild black bears isn't really feasible, Cornell University researchers will focus on people in a pilot program intended to reduce the growing number of interactions between humans and the state's largest carnivore.
New York's first documented bear-related human fatality occurred in 2002 in Sullivan County's Woodridge.
On Aug. 19, 2002, a North American black bear snatched 5-month-old Esty Schwimmer from her stroller and killed her. She had been sitting outside a family bungalow.
"Be a good neighBEAR and don't feed the bears. If you remove the food, you remove the bear," is the message that Cornell researchers want to implant with local residents, said Meredith Gore, a Cornell researcher who is conducting and evaluating the summertime education program.
The project will be carried out in two Hudson Valley communities – Woodstock and Warwick.
"To be successful, we'll have to change human behavior. Bear behavior won't change readily," said Paul Curtis, a professor of natural resources and coordinator of Cornell's Wildlife Damage Management Program, who has been working with Gore.
"The changing landscape has been prompting bear problems," Gore said. "Land that used to be agricultural and has become young forest are ideal bear habitats. With increasing bear populations and recent droughts, bears are venturing further for food, often visiting suburban and rural developments and encountering bird feeders and garbage."
The program will educate residents about ways to make homes less attractive to hungry, wandering bears, such as burning off grease each time an outdoor grill is used, feeding pets indoors, putting out bird feeders only during winter months, keeping garbage indoors until the morning of its scheduled pickup and protecting beehives and livestock with electric fencing.
Black bears – the state's second-largest animal after the moose – now inhabit almost every county in the state, Gore said. There are approximately 8,000 bears roaming New York and human-bear conflicts have been steadily increasing, particularly throughout the Adirondacks, the Catskill Forest Preserve and Allegany and Steuben counties in southwestern New York, along the Pennsylvania border.
"It's not only a regional problem now, but even a national problem," Gore said.
There have been 600 bear complaints filed this year in New Jersey, for instance.
Gore said the education program will use several methods from refrigerator magnets to billboards. Each method will be evaluated for its effectiveness in changing human behavior, she said.
The Times Herald-Record contributed to this report.
Some bear facts
Name – Black bear or Ursus americanus.
Size – Adults stand 2½ to 3 feet high at the shoulder; they can reach up to 6 feet tall balanced on their hind legs.
Weight – Average about 200 pounds, but can reach up to 600 pounds. The state record is 750 pounds.
Habits – Shy and secretive, the black bear prefers mature forests interspersed with areas of open meadows; they are most active at dawn and dusk.
Eats – A variety of fruit, nuts, acorns, insects, succulent greens and animal flesh.
Range – Bears wander large areas up to 15 miles in diameter.
Hibernation – Black bears usually enter hibernation by the end of November and re-emerge around April.
Mating – Black bears reach maturity between 3-7 years; mating occurs from late May through early July, producing one to four cubs during January and early February. Females have litters every two to four years.
Life span – Black bears can live up to 33 years.
Harvest – In 2004, hunters killed 1,014 bears, the third-highest take on record.