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Louisiana Wildlife Insider
By Jared Laufenberg, Graduate Re- search Assistant, University of Tennes- see and Joseph Clark, Principal Investi- gator, USGS, University of Tennessee
The Louisiana black bear (
Ur- sus americanus luteolus
) once occurredthroughout Louisiana, in southern Mis-
sissippi and in eastern Texas. Today,habitat in the Mississippi Alluvial Plain
is highly fragmented due to land clear-ing for agriculture; more than 80 percentof the bottomland hardwood habitat has
been lost. As a consequence, the remain
-ing bears in the region primarily exist inisolated fragments of wooded habitat in
the Tensas River and Atchafalaya River basins (Figure 1). In 1992, the U.S. Fishand Wildlife Service (USFWS) granted
the Louisiana black bear threatened status
under the U.S. Endangered Species Act,listing loss of habitat as a primary threat.A recovery plan was developed in 1995that provided criteria for delisting:1. at least two viable subpopulations,one each in the Tensas River andAtchafalaya River basins;2.
establishment of immigration andemigration corridors between the
two viable subpopulations; and3.
long-term protection of the habitatand interconnecting corridors that
support each of the two viable sub
-
populations used as justication for delisting.The plan denes a viable subpopula
-
tion as one which has a 95 percent or bet
-
ter chance of persistence over 100 years,
despite random effects of demography,
environment, genetics and natural catas
-
trophes. Long-term protection is denedas having sufcient voluntary conserva
-
tion agreements with private landowners
and public land managers in the Tensas
River and Atchafalaya River basins so
that habitat degradation is unlikely to oc-
cur over 100 years.Since the plan was published, a num
- ber of studies on Louisiana black bears
have been conducted. Research has fo
-
cused on movement patterns, habitat
needs, taxonomy, denning ecology, pub-
lic attitudes and survival. That work has
greatly added to our knowledge on the
status of the Louisiana black bear. Along
with research, a number of management
activities have improved recovery pros
-
pects for the Louisiana black bear. Sincelisting in 1992, approximately 320,000acres of future bear habitat have beencreated under the federal ConservationReserve Program, and another 225,000acres have been created under the federalWetland Reserve Program. The Louisi
-ana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
(LDWF) also acquired over 30,000 acresalong the Mississippi River and TensasRiver basins for inclusion in the wildlifemanagement area (WMA) system duringthe past 25 years.A reintroduction program started in2001 to reestablish a black bear subpopu
-
lation in the Red River Complex (RRC),which includes Red River and Three Riv
-
ers WMAs (Figure 1.). The primary ob
-
jective of this program is to reintroduce
bears to suitable habitat, thereby increas-
ing overall numbers and strengthening
the network of bear subpopulations in
the region. However, because black bearshave a remarkable ability for homing, post-translocation movements can be ex
-
tensive and often result in mortality. Em
- ploying a translocation method that mini-
mizes these movements is essential to thesuccess of the reintroduction program.Therefore, a “soft release” method of re
-
introduction is currently being used. Thismethod of release involves capturing and
translocating hibernating females with
cubs and takes advantage of a female’smaternal instincts that can override hom
-
ing behavior, thus reducing post-releasemovements and increasing reintroduc
-
tion success. Live trapping has been con
-ducted to radiocollar adult females on the
Tensas River Basin (TRB) study area,which includes the Tensas River NationalWildlife Refuge, Big Lake and BuckhornWMAs and adjacent private properties.
UPDATE:
LOUISIANABLACk BEARRESEARCHPROjECT
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