Wildlife Spotlight: The Bears of Chassahowitzka
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Mike Orlando
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In 1997 the University of Kentucky began a five-year study of the black
bears inhabiting the mixed hardwood swamps, pine flatwoods, scrub,
and coastal marshes of Citrus, Hernando, and Pasco counties. Wildlife
biologists are using radiotelemetry and other methods to learn more
about population size, home ranges, and habitat use. Bears are captured,
fitted with special collars, and tracked using small planes. The bears
are ear tagged, examined, and weighed and measured. The population
is also monitored using hair snares and remote cameras to identify
individuals.
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Mike Orlando
Wildlife biologist
fits tranquilized bear with radio collar
Mike Orlando
Wildlife biologists
Greg Batts and Diana Donaghy working on a 350-pound male
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According to University of Kentucky researcher Mike Orlando, the
Chassahowitzka or west central Florida black bear population consists
of less than 20 individuals and may be the smallest known bear population
in North America. The Chassahowitzka bears appear to have adjusted
their behavior to avoid humans. Many bear populations are active during
the day. The west central Florida bears are active at dawn and dusk
and at night. Virtually no nuisance complaints have been made against
these bears although they have been documented traveling within 50
meters of upscale residences. They do not raid trashcans or bird feeders
as bears commonly do in other parts of Florida. Their home ranges
are elliptical rather than the more typical oval. Because the bears
are constrained by roads, they move farther north and south than they
move east and west.
The Chassahowitzka bears live in a habitat that is being encroached,
circumscribed, and fragmented by humans. Roads are a threat to bears
here as they are in other parts of Florida. In September 2001 the only
known cubs produced this year (twins born to an uncollared female) were
both hit by a vehicle and killed on CR 595.
According to Closing the Gaps, a 1994 publication of the then
Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission, even the existing habitat
is much too small to sustain a population in the long run without dispersal.
Since the bears have no opportunity to breed with bears from other populations,
genetic depression is also a concern although no abnormalities in fertility
or vigor of the population have been noted. A very small population
of bears has been reported in the Green Swamp, but linkage between the
Chassahowitzka and Green Swamp populations would require connection
of existing conservation areas and containment of human population growth
and development, an unlikely prospect in one of the fastest growing
regions in the nation.
