Hey Yogi, Florida project tracks black bears with doughnuts

A bag of doughnuts hangs from a tree. More doughnuts and some corn are placed on the ground. Bear magnet scent, that smells like raspberry doughnuts, is hung to let the bears know there are treats nearby.

The bear goodie pen is all part of a study of Florida black bears — deemed the largest study of black bears in the nation.

“The goal is abundance and density,” said Jake Humm, a graduate student at the University of Tennessee who is leading Florida Black Bear Project. The study is a partnership with the university and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

When the study is complete, bears will be sampled in an area of more than eight million acres.

“This is the largest black bear study conducted in the United States,” Humm said.

This year scientists are studying bears on 13 parcels of land in Collier County including Big Cypress National Preserve, Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge and adjacent property, along with areas in Apalachicola and Eglin AFB. Last year’s study areas included Ocala, Osceola and St. Johns. Humm said the largest bear populations are in Ocala, Apalachicola and Big Cypress.

The Florida black bear was listed as a threatened species in 1974. It was taken off that list in 2012. As part of the delisting process, a Black Bear Management Plan was developed and approved by the Commission in 2012. The study is part of a management plan. Results will help FWC manage black bears in the future.

The idea is to get a look at the numbers of bears, where they live and where they travel. To do this they are taking fur samples. Hundreds of wire pens are set up in the wilderness. Each pen has two rows of wire with little barb tufts. As the bears climb in and out to get the doughnuts and corn, a bit of fur gets snagged on the barb. Humm collects the fur, and places it in little labeled envelopes. The envelopes will be sent to Wildlife Genetics International in Canada for analysis.

“It’s much less invasive than live captures and much more cost efficient,” Humm said. “There are no (capture) traps, no invasive procedures and no drugs. The bear eats the doughnuts and goes on its way and we rebait the traps.”

There are about 130 sites in the Big Cypress area. Most of the doughnuts in the traps were donated by Crispy Cream with some additional ones from Dunkin Donuts. Each trap is checked once a week. Many of the areas can only be reached by ATV or on foot through the thick brush and mucky terrain.

The six week study began the third week in June and will end July 29. It will help FWC with its management plan to make sure the black bear maintains a viable population.

Walter McCown, Bear Research, Fish & Wildlife Research Institute, Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission, said there are about 450 snares in the three locations throughout Florida.

“We surveyed about 5.5 million acres in 2014 and we will far surpass that this year,” he explained. “The results of this carefully planned systematic survey are important for sound black bear management in Florida.”

McCown said the typical home range for black bears varies by area, gender, season, and food availability. The annual home ranges of bears in Southwest Florida were estimated in 1990-1992 at 74,871 acres for males and 14,085 acres for females. In that study, bears moved great distances to find palmetto berries. In a normal berry year, home ranges are usually lower. In Ocala National Forest, males use 23,302 acres in a typical year and females 5,060 acres.

The new study will give a more current look at the home ranges along with bear populations and density. Humm said he enjoys the research because it is making a difference in helping bear populations of the future. But there is one drawback.

“After two years of doing this I have no interest in jelly doughnuts anymore,” Humm said. “I stick to chocolate ones now.”