Human dimensions of black bear management in Connecticut

The American black bear (Ursus americanus) is a generalist species that has been expanding its range in the northeastern US. Connecticut contains the nation’s highest proportion of wildland-urban interface (72% of land... [ view full abstract ]

The American black bear (Ursus americanus) is a generalist species that has been expanding its range in the northeastern US. Connecticut contains the nation’s highest proportion of wildland-urban interface (72% of land area) and fourth highest human population density.  With this, black bear range expansion across the largely exurban landscape of Connecticut has been accompanied by an increasing number of interactions between black bears and humans.  As part of a larger ongoing study, our objective is to understand the spatial distribution of a subset of human-black bear interactions, characterized as conflicts.  Human-black bear conflicts were assessed based on conflict type (e.g. damaged birdfeeder, vehicle collision, rummaged in trash cans), timing during the year, and location within the state.  Of 4,000 human-black bear conflicts reported to the state wildlife agency since 2008, approximately 1,000 of those conflicts occurred in 2016.  Spatial analysis was used to evaluate the distribution of nine categories of conflicts in both time (i.e. hot moments) and space (i.e. hot spots).  Results suggested that two conflict types, black bear disturbance to birdfeeders and black bear disturbance to trash cans, were clustered in space and temporally distinct.  Trash can conflicts were more tightly organized in a “hot spot” in the northwestern region of the state, and were more frequently reported in the late summer and fall.  Birdfeeder conflicts were more broadly dispersed across space, and reported more frequently in the spring and early summer.  This spatial and temporal heterogeneity may relate to seasonal changes in black bear feeding behavior and effort, and opportunistic availability of attractants.  There is also opportunity for adapting outreach efforts geographically to target the right problems, in the right place, and at the right time.