Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Bear Family Moved To Area

Clark and Nevada counties share more than a border and long-standing athletic rivalry.

Recently, a family of black bear was relocated from Nevada to Clark County by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.

According to Mark Clark, division supervisor with wildlife management in district 4, four bears, a sow and four cubs, were first seen near Exit 46 in Prescott, where they were foraging for berries and other food items.

People stopping to take pictures and look at the bears was causing hazardous conditions for motorists getting on and off the interstate.

The people's actions put both them and the bears in danger. Clark said the AG&FC feared the bears would be ran over, or the sow may attack someone to protect her cubs.

Bob Scott of Bismarck was contacted and brought traps down to capture the animals. Once caught, the bear family was taken to a more remote location in Clark County where it was hoped they would be safer.

The capture occurred Sunday, Aug. 30, with the sow being tagged. A tooth was taken from the "mama" bear as an indicator of age.

Clark said the wear of the tooth indicates she's a young bear at this time.

He said the AG&FC got reports of bear sightings on Aug. 30 and 31, and again on Sept. 3.

The Sept. 3 report, he said, informed the commission the sow had been hit by a car off Highway 53 between Gurdon and Highway 24 East.

An investigation into the matter turned up no indication the bear had been injured. Clark said they found no blood or hair, common signs of injury.

Also on Thursday, Sept. 3, the sow and two cubs were spotted eating a dead cow carcass on Highway 53.

Their presence causes motorists to slow down and create possible driving hazards, while constituting a danger to the bears as well.

"She's a beautiful creature," Clark said of the mother bear, "and she's in good condition."

When asked why there were only three bears in the Gurdon area instead of the four picked up from Prescott, Clark said it is possible one of the cubs became separated from the rest of its family. Or, he said, it may have been injured or killed.

But, he added, the Arkansas State Transportation and Highway Department was contacted and removed the dead cow to prevent the bears from returning to the scene.

"These bears have been the victims of bad circumstances," Clark said, because they were first near Exit 46 on Interstate 30, located to Clark County and then harassed by motorists.

Clark reminds the public bears can run faster than humans, and people should leave them alone if they see them. He said it's extremely dangerous to get between a sow and her cubs. This will cause the mother bear to attack.

At one time, he said, Arkansas was known as the bear state because of the number of black bear located here.

The best place for them was the coastal plain area, but this changed with most of Arkansas's bear being located in the mountain area where there are fewer people.

However, with the bear population increasing, the animals are moving back toward the coastal plain. The problem, though, is there are more people living in the coastal plain region of the state, and meetings between humans and bears are likely to occur.

As a safety tip, Clark suggests anyone seeing a lone cub to leave it alone. It may either be abandoned or it's mother could be somewhere nearby. Should it be the latter, the sow would likely attack the intruder to protect her child.

"Bears aren't naturally a ferocious animal," Clark said, "but it's best to leave them alone. There's no need to be afraid of them, but people need to use good judgement."

Bear, he said, are attracted to trash, where there may be food remains, and pet food.

It is against the law in Arkansas to feed bear, he said, and there is currently no hunting season in the coastal plain sector of the state.

At this time, Clark said, the largest concentration of black bear in the coastal plain is in the White River Refuge.