Returning to the dens to check up on bear population, researchers find precious surprise
GRAND RAPIDS, Minn. (WCCO) -- Last winter, WCCO brought you into a bear's den in Minnesota's north woods. Erin Hassanzadeh and photographer Joe Berglove tagged along with Department of Natural Resources' black bear researchers.
We found bear #6080 on that journey, catching her at a difficult time. This month, we checked in with that same team for an update, and were surprised to learn what they discovered in her den this year.
Last year, the bear seemed to be underweight and, to the surprise of researchers, had no cubs in her den.
"That's actually pretty rare, but we had a really bad food year last year, probably the worst we've had since the '80s," DNR bear biologist Andrew Tri said.
This year, researchers found what they'd been looking for before -- bear #6080 has welcomed two cubs into the world.
Researchers say that she's perfectly healthy, as far as they can tell.
"It was a great year one of the best food years we had on record since we started tracking these things back in the '80s. We had choke cherries on the trees into deer season, which almost never happens," Tri said.
That abundance of food probably helped cut down on nuisance calls, as well.
"Aside from a few human-bear conflicts, generally speaking everything was really quiet this year, which is a nice rest for area wildlife managers ... that get a lot of calls when the bears are getting into trouble," Tri said.
Tri says all the bears who were expected to have cubs had them. Our thick blanket of snow insulated dens.
"We had to dig quite a ways to even find the hole for a lot of these bears' dens," Tri said.
However, our February warmup posed a challenge for one bear.
"It got a little flooded out in her den, so she just moved 500 yards away into a brush pile in a wetland and is hibernating the rest of her winter there," Tri said.
The overall population itself is steady, though they cut back permits in some areas that saw a lot of hunting. And as far as where you'll find Minnesota black bears?
"The north end of the Twin Cities, and even to some extent the eastern edge of the Twin Cities ... that's becoming a secondary bear range now. Bear sightings are more common," Tri said. "It's incumbent upon folks to start thinking about pulling their bird feeders in when its about Tax Day or so, and making sure their trash is secured so bears can be bears and they don't get in trouble with folks."
Tri recommended checking out bearwise.org, a website written by bear biologists with consistent advice on how we can all co-exist with bears, which is even more important when people open up their cabins and venture out more into the warmer weather.
