Since 2016, Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR) biologists have been radio-collaring adult female bears in Virginia. Data acquired through this project continues to provide insights into the movements, denning habits, and home ranges of wild, female bears in unstudied areas of Virginia. Additionally, these female bears are successfully being used as surrogate mothers for orphaned black bear cubs.
Photo by Meghan Marchetti, DWR.
There are currently eight adult females fitted with GPS radio-collars primarily in southcentral counties of Appomattox, Buckingham and Pittsylvania. GPS radio-collars are linked to satellites that transmit location data to the biologists. Four of these females currently have approximately 10 month old cubs with them and three to four are expected to have cubs this winter.
Using wild female bears as surrogate mothers for orphan cubs has been a successful practice in Virginia. Female bears are excellent mothers and will readily raise orphan cubs. Each female bear will be visited by DWR biologists in her winter den, and females who have given birth to cubs will act as surrogate mothers and be given an appropriate number of orphan cubs depending on the surrogate’s condition, age, and the number of natural cubs already present.
This exciting project is expected to continue for the foreseeable future. Deployment of the radio collars will be rotated periodically throughout the state so that no one location or female bear will acquire orphan cubs over an extended period of time. Unfortunately, we have lost eight females through hunter harvests, a farmer kill and a suspected poaching event. We hope that each of the remaining radio-collared bears and others collared in subsequent years will provide several years of service to the Department’s bear project.
For more information, please visit our webpage at www.dwr.virginia.gov/wildlife/bear to view information ranging from general bear facts, the Black Bear Management Plan, how-to videos and information on trash can retrofitting and electric fencing, as well as tips for hunters and other useful links.
KEEP BEARS WILD!
To report wildlife crime, call 1-800-237-5712.