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The Pennsylvania Game Commission occasionally
brings a black bear to camp before relocating it. If the game commission
traps a bear in the surrounding area, we will
have a special class held by the game commission in which they process a
live bear. The participants get to see first hand the sedation of the bear,
removal from the culvert trap, ear tagging, tattooing, weighing, tooth
extraction for aging, and examination of overall health. The bear is finally
released on State Game Lands.
The Pennsylvania Game Commission's Nuisance Black Bear Management Program
was created to reduce human-bear conflicts. Bear abundance and distribution,
once low because of high mortality and widespread deforestation, have more
than tripled in Pennsylvania since 1980. Expansion appears to be continuing
into southeastern and western counties. We currently have more than 15,000
bears statewide. Let’s hope that we get a bear at camp this year.
