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By GEORGE SMITH georges@leader.net
Sunday, January 30, 2000 Page: 12C
Blame the low numbers on lack of readily available food.
Or blame it on bears that already had retired to their dens.
In some cases, blame it on the weather.
The Pennsylvania Game Commission has announced that the final, official
1999 bear harvest was 1,740 animals.
That’s 858 fewer than the record harvest of 2,598 established in 1998.
Biologists estimated the statewide bear population to be near 10,000 before
the start of the three-day season that ran the week of Thanksgiving.
Although last year’s statewide harvest figure is relatively close to the
10-year average of 1,806, Luzerne County suffered an enormous drop, from 76 in
1998 to 19 last year.
Game Commission biologist Gary Alt, who now heads the deer management
section of the agency’s Bureau of Wildlife Management, said the reduced
harvest was caused by the limited availability of fall foods in some areas,
particularly the Poconos, and dense fog in some areas that limited the ability
of hunters to see bears.
“We believe bears went into dens early in certain parts of the state
because of the limited availability of fall foods,” Alt said. “In the
Poconos, success was further impacted by recharged wetlands, which limited
hunter access to areas where bears typically hole up during hunting seasons.”
A poor crop of acorns, beechnuts and berries in many areas prompted the
bears to go into their dens early rather than waste energy searching for food.
(It is illegal for hunters to exploit denned bears.)
In the Northeast Region, more bruins were killed in Pike County (73) than
any other last year.
The 19 bears killed in Luzerne County were a far cry from the 76 taken in
1998, but the significant drop in numbers can’t be considered representative
of the population, due to low food availability.
In Luzerne County, one bear was killed in Courtdale and Bear Creek, Black
Creek, Buck, Dennison, Fairmount, Fairview, Jenkins and Newport townships; two
were killed in Ross and Sugarloaf townships, and three were taken in Pittston
and Rice townships, according to the game commission.
Clinton County had the largest bear harvest with 129. It was followed by
Clearfield with 122; Centre, 115; Lycoming, 100; and McKean, 91.
What follows is a breakdown of county bear harvests by region with last
year’s harvest figures in parentheses.
Northeast – Pike, 73 (160); Monroe, 48 (135); Wayne, 47 (104); Bradford, 30
(35); Sullivan, 29 (53); Luzerne, 19 (76); Columbia, 15 (42); Carbon, 13 (70);
Lackawanna, 11 (34); Wyoming, 11 (34); Susquehanna, 10 (14); and
Northumberland, 2 (5).
Southeast – Schuylkill, 25 (32); Lebanon, 5 (6); Dauphin, 4 (6); Berks, 2
(4); and Northampton, 2 (9).
Northcentral – Clinton, 129 (219); Clearfield, 122 (103); Centre, 115
(133); Lycoming, 100 (235); McKean, 91 (115); Tioga, 81 (112); Potter, 59
(89); Elk, 58 (69); Cameron, 52 (78); and Union, 11 (46).
Southcentral – Huntingdon, 46 (65); Bedford, 32 (35); Blair, 25 (34);
Snyder, 11 (3); Fulton, 10 (5); Mifflin, 10 (24); and Juniata, 2 (6).
Northwest – Forest, 65 (52); Jefferson, 49 (38); Warren, 33 (59); Venango,
31 (36); Clarion, 30 (13); Crawford, 7 (2); and Butler, 6 (4).
Southwest – Somerset, 70 (63); Indiana, 51 (23); Westmoreland, 33 (53);
Cambria, 30 (25); Fayette, 23 (20); and Armstrong, 12 (18).
During last year’s bear season the game commission for the first time used
computers at eight of the 23 statewide bear check stations.
This year, the use of computers is expected to be extended to all check
stations.
And that should allow the agency’s Bureau of Wildlife Management to release
official bear harvest information in a more timely fashion, as well as assist
biologists in developing bear management initiatives.