WLBT 3 - Jackson, MS: Another Black Bear Caught

Another Black Bear Caught

By Bert Case
bert@wlbt.com

Another black bear has been captured, tagged, and collared with a new global positioning system device in the Mississippi Delta. The bear was caught about 30 miles from where the one was collared last in the Yazoo Wildlife Management Area.

The latest bear was in the Twin Oaks Wildlife Management Area. The bear was tranquilized for the procedure then released in the woods. The bear was also caught in a portable bear trap, which uses a piece of culvert pipe to contain the bear. The bear was trapped some three miles southeast of Rolling Fork.

Black bear biologist Brad Young, who works at the Natural Science Museum, administered the tranquilizer shot. The male bear weighed 292 pounds. It is a Louisiana black bear that is believed to have come across the Mississippi River into Mississippi. It is a very rare occurrence to see a black bear in the wild in Mississippi, but this is the second time in as many weeks one has been fitted with one of the new GPS collars. They have to be retrieved to read where the bear has been.  The reason this is done is to gain research knowledge on the black bear, which was once plentiful in Mississippi but is down to less than 100 now, according to the Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks.