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Post by warsaw on Mar 14, 2011 3:07:16 GMT -9
bear is found in Florida, southern Georgia and southern Alabama. It is a unique subspecies and is considered threatened by the state of Florida. The Florida black bear can be distinguished from other subspecies by genetic and skeletal differences. The Black Bear is one of a few animals that surprise people by its very existence in the State of Florida. Many visitors have been heard to say "you have bears here!" The Florida Black bear is one of eighteen known subspecies found throughout the United States and Canada The black bear population of the United States is estimated at 750,000, with the largest state number at 7,000 in Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, Florida's population is not so numerous. At one time the Florida bear population once ranged the entire state, Once estimated at 12,000 animals with a range throughout Southern Georgia and Alabama. Today the bears' numbers are estimated at about 1,500. The average black bear male weighs about 350 pounds while a female average weight is 150 pounds. The bears' diet is about 80% vegetation. Foods include berries, acorns, insects and palmetto hearts. The average home range of an adult female black bear is almost 11 square miles' a male's is around 66 square miles. A healthy bear population needs at least 400,000 acres to survive. To protect an area of that size in a highly-developed Florida requires preserving the connections between core habitats. Bears inhabit both wetlands and upland forest habitats. Black bears originated in North America, and have been here at least 1.5 million years. Like all members of the bear family, black bears are large, powerful mammals with rounded ears, short tails, 5-toed feet, and large canine teeth. Black bears may look slow because they walk flat on their feet like people, and travel with a shuffling gait, but they can run up to 30 miles an hour. With their stout, heavily-curved claws, black bears climb trees very well; these claws are non-retractable and can be easily seen in their tracks. Protecting the habitat of the wide-ranging black bear benefits many other species that depend on the same habitat type, such as the threatened Florida scrub jay and the eastern indigo snake. For this reason, bears are often referred to as an “umbrella species”. The bulk of Florida's bears occur in six major populations located in the Ocala National Forest/Wekiva River Basin, Big Cypress National Preserve/Everglades National Park, Apalachicola National Forest, Osceola National Forest/ Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge (south Georgia) St. Johns River corridor Eglin Air Force Base. Chassahowitzka, Highlands and Glades counties. Nearly 20 acres of wildlife habitat are being lost to development every hour in Florida, one of the most rapidly urbanizing states in the nation. To ensure survival of this subspecies, it is critical that bear habitat, adjacent to and serving to link existing public lands, be purchased as public lands or managed by private landowners in a manner compatible with the long-term survival of the Florida black bear. Approximately 25-50% of all cubs die before they turn one year old. Natural causes of death include drowning, den cave-ins, hypothermia due to flooded dens, starvation, infections from injuries, and predation (by other bears). Road kills are considered the leading known cause of Florida Bear mortality. More than 1,356 bears are documented to have been killed by vehicles since 1976. Well over 100 bears are killed on Florida roads each year, with the record number, 132, occurring in 2002. Once fully grown, black bears have no predators besides humans and other bears. The other causes of mortality are old age, starvation, poaching (Florida has no legal hunting season), other bears, and disease.
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Post by warsaw on Apr 2, 2012 11:14:42 GMT -9
DRAFT 5 FLORIDA BLACK BEAR MANAGEMENT PLAN Ursus americanus floridanus 8
November 2, 2011 Mortality 734 "...Aside from other bears, adult Florida black bears have few natural predators. Adult males opportunistically kill cubs and occasionally kill and eat denning adult 736 females and their young (Garrison et al. 2007). Most mortality occurs from birth to 737 age one year and can exceed 60 percent (Garrison et al. 2007). Annual female survivorship typically exceeds 90 percent while that of males is 15-20 percent lower (Hostetler et al. 2009, Wooding and Hardisky 1992). Males experience lower 740 survival rates because they have larger home ranges and are more mobile which 741 exposes them to greater risks especially to collisions with vehicles (McCown et al. 2009). The oldest wild bear documented in Florida was a 24-year-old female from 743 the Apalachicola subpopulation. Known mortality of adult bears is caused largely by humans (i.e., roadkill, 745 illegal kill). In highly fragmented habitat, bears have more frequent interactions with humans and human-related sources of mortality can be significant. Bears 747 living in the urban-wildland interface near Ocala NF experienced anthropogenic 748 mortality of adult females at a level that would be unsustainable if the subpopulation was isolated (McCown et al. 2004). A similar rate would be 750 catastrophic to the smaller, isolated subpopulations like Chassahowitzka or Glades-751 Highlands. Vehicle collisions are the leading known cause of death for bears in 752 Florida (McCown et al. 2001). From 2000 to 2010, FWC documented an average of 753 136 bears hit and killed by vehicles each year. In 2002, roadkills resulted in an 754 annual mortality rate of 4.8 percent on the overall statewide bear population. 755 Although roadkill is a significant source of mortality, populations with the 756 reproductive characteristics common to most subpopulations of Florida black bears (females reproduce at three years old and produce two cubs every two years) can 758 sustain a maximum annual mortality of up to 23 percent (Bunnell and Tait 1980) 759 without experiencing a decline. Many bears survive collisions with vehicles but sustain significant injuries. Out of 92 juvenile and adult bears captured in Ocala NF, twelve (13%) had one or more healed skeletal injuries and/or primarily limb fractures that were likely a result of vehicular collision (McCown et al. 2001). 763 Illegal killing (i.e., poaching) of bears is a regular, though relatively low, 764 mortality factor. Bears are illegally killed because of conflicts with livestock or 765 other damage and for sale of bear parts on the black market. However, the number 766 of documented bears killed illegally in Florida each year is fairly low. From 1990 to 767 2010, FWC documented 147 illegally killed bears. Most studies involving radio-768 collared bears in Florida (Wooding and Hardisky 1992, Land et al. 1994, McCown et 769 al. 2004) have reported the incidence of illegally killed bears to be relatively low within large contiguous land parcels and substantially higher within the fragmented habitats in the wildland-urban interface. Diseases are uncommon in black bears. There are no reports of rabid blackbears in Florida and few from elsewhere. Demodetic mange resulting in generalized hair loss to adult females is relatively common (78%) in one locale on the western border of Ocala NF. Few cases have been observed in any other subpopulation in Florida although one case has been reported from outside of Florida (Foster et al 1998). Demodetic mange is transmitted from sow to cub but males recover by theirsecond year (Cunningham et al. 2007). Twenty-five other species of parasites have been reported from Florida black bears including 17 nematodes, two trematodes, 780 one protozoan, and five arthropods; however mortality caused by parasites has not been documented (Forrester 1992)..." "...Currently, direct mortality caused by humans is a chronic threat to bears but 1136 does not appear to have much of a dampening effect on bear population growth (see Chapter 2: Mortality). Recent levels of documented illegal kill are low, however, collisions with vehicles accounted for approximately 81 percent (2,057 of 2,544) of known bear mortalities from 1990 to 2010 (Figure 9). Although the incidence of 1145 vehicle-killed bears has increased significantly through time, the impacts to 1146 individual populations are relatively low. In 2002, 126 bears were killed on the 1147 state‟s roadways. Based on bear population estimates for 2002, that level of roadkill 1148 mortality was equivalent to an annual mortality statewide of approximately 4.8 percent, and varied from less than one percent in Osceola to ten percent in Chassahowitzka (Brown 2004, Simek et al. 2005). Vehicle-collisions were particularly concentrated in the Ocala/St. Johns subpopulation, where 1152 approximately 44 percent (1,111 of 2,544) of the vehicle-killed bears in the state from 1990 to 2010 occurred (FWC unpublished data). Despite this concentration, Ocala/St. Johns roadkills equaled eight percent annual mortality (Simek et al. 2005). While roadkill mortality in all subpopulations was below the 23 percent level
that bear populations can sustain without experiencing a decline (Bunnell and Tait 1162 1980), continued increases of roadkill mortality can pose a major threat to 1163 fragmented and isolated populations. While part of the trends in vehicle-caused mortality is attributable to increases in the volume of road traffic (Figure 10), it also is influenced by increasing trends in bear population numbers (Figure 6). Habitat degradation through incompatible land management has the potential 1167 to threaten bears in Florida. Bears are adaptive generalists and therefore well suited to use a variety of habitats, even those in change. However, large wildfires may temporarily remove forest cover and food sources bears need to survive. Additionally, prescribed fire at frequent intervals or performed during winter seasons may decrease food production and cover for bears at the local level (Maehr et al. 2001). These impacts must be weighed against the greater threat related to the loss of functional fire-maintained ecosystems upon which numerous other species depend. Palmetto berry harvest for commercial purposes has the potential to remove important food sources for bears (Maehr et al. 2001), particularly in poor mast years. In isolation, these issues do not pose grave threats to the statewide bear population. However, these threats can lower the carrying capacity for bears in an area and when occurring in conjunction with each other or with other threats, they could have interactive negative effects for bear populations. .."
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Post by Ursus arctos on Jun 4, 2013 7:53:17 GMT -9
I'm not sure if this is the most appropriate place to post, but credit to Frank for finding: Monstrous black bear captured, relocated in FloridaThe 620-pound bruin, trapped after it had been discovered breaking into trash cans, is only four pounds shy of the largest ever recorded in state
For the second time this month, Florida wildlife experts have dealt with an abnormally huge critter.
In early May, the largest Burmese python ever recorded in the state was captured and stabbed to death by a South Florida man who encountered the 18-foot, 8-inch reptile on a remote road.
Late last week, a near-record black bear was trapped, tranquilized, and relocated to a more remote area.
The massive bruin, captured after it had been breaking into trash cans in the Ocala National Forest, weighed 620 pounds. It’s the largest bear ever captured in Florida and only four pounds shy of the largest recorded in the state: a 624-pound bear killed years ago in a vehicle collision in Naples.
(The image atop this post is a video screen grab of the 620-pound male bear. Footage of the release, showing the animal scampering over a video camera, is posted above.)
For the sake of comparison, male black bears in some states have exceeded 800 pounds.
“This bear was so used to getting into trash that even after the garbage was secured in a shed he returned and pulled the aluminum siding off to get at his free meal,” the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission stated on its Facebook page.
The capture, in Lake County, was part of a successful effort by the agency to tranquilize and relocate the bear to a more remote area, where it’s hoped he’ll resume a more natural feeding cycle—and perhaps shed a few pounds.
Image caption: Enormous black bear is shown after it had been tranquilized, and before it was released. Credit for both images and video: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
“Bears that habitually feed on human-supplied foods such as garbage and wildlife feed or pet food can become abnormally large because of the high number of calories found in these food sources,” the FWC stated.
As for the 128-pound python, it was killed by South Florida resident Jason Leon in Miami-Dade County, after he had grabbed a portion of the snake and it had begun to wrap around his legs.
Leon was praised by the FWC because Burmese pythons are an invasive species and a threat to native wildlife.
Researchers at the University of Florida have preserved the snake’s skeleton, but Leon was recently presented with the beautiful skin.
He’s quoted by the Associated Press as saying: “Look at the pattern on that snake. I see God’s creation.”
There are an estimated 3,000 black bears in Florida, and a considerable but undetermined number of Burmese pythons within the Everglades region.By Pete Thomas, from here.
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Post by grrraaahhh on Jun 10, 2013 0:49:33 GMT -9
I'm not sure if this is the most appropriate place to post, but credit to Frank for finding: Monstrous black bear captured, relocated in FloridaThe 620-pound bruin, trapped after it had been discovered breaking into trash cans, is only four pounds shy of the largest ever recorded in state
For the second time this month, Florida wildlife experts have dealt with an abnormally huge critter.
In early May, the largest Burmese python ever recorded in the state was captured and stabbed to death by a South Florida man who encountered the 18-foot, 8-inch reptile on a remote road.
Late last week, a near-record black bear was trapped, tranquilized, and relocated to a more remote area.
The massive bruin, captured after it had been breaking into trash cans in the Ocala National Forest, weighed 620 pounds. It’s the largest bear ever captured in Florida and only four pounds shy of the largest recorded in the state: a 624-pound bear killed years ago in a vehicle collision in Naples.
(The image atop this post is a video screen grab of the 620-pound male bear. Footage of the release, showing the animal scampering over a video camera, is posted above.)
For the sake of comparison, male black bears in some states have exceeded 800 pounds.
“This bear was so used to getting into trash that even after the garbage was secured in a shed he returned and pulled the aluminum siding off to get at his free meal,” the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission stated on its Facebook page.
The capture, in Lake County, was part of a successful effort by the agency to tranquilize and relocate the bear to a more remote area, where it’s hoped he’ll resume a more natural feeding cycle—and perhaps shed a few pounds.
Image caption: Enormous black bear is shown after it had been tranquilized, and before it was released. Credit for both images and video: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
“Bears that habitually feed on human-supplied foods such as garbage and wildlife feed or pet food can become abnormally large because of the high number of calories found in these food sources,” the FWC stated.
As for the 128-pound python, it was killed by South Florida resident Jason Leon in Miami-Dade County, after he had grabbed a portion of the snake and it had begun to wrap around his legs.
Leon was praised by the FWC because Burmese pythons are an invasive species and a threat to native wildlife.
Researchers at the University of Florida have preserved the snake’s skeleton, but Leon was recently presented with the beautiful skin.
He’s quoted by the Associated Press as saying: “Look at the pattern on that snake. I see God’s creation.”
There are an estimated 3,000 black bears in Florida, and a considerable but undetermined number of Burmese pythons within the Everglades region.By Pete Thomas, from here. Thank you Ursus & thank you Frank. I moved your post to this thread. I think exceptional specimens merit there own thread or where possible merged with another thread. RE: the black bear weights & measurement thread, when possible; I prefer it to be populated with more comprehensive technical or field data. If I come across extensive Florida black bear morphometric data I would post/share it twice in both threads.
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