Biodiversity: Louisiana black bear recovery hailed as endangered species success story

Louisiana black bears have recovered and will be taken off the endangered species list. Photo courtesy Brad Young, Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks.

Recovery goals met, USFWS proposes delisting

Staff Report

FRISCO — In a textbook case of endangered species conservation,  U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologists last week said they’ve met their recovery goals for the Louisiana black bear and moved to take the species off the endangered species list.

The subspecies of black bear lives only in Louisiana, East Texas and western Mississippi. It was listed in 1992 because of pressures from hunting and habitat destruction and fragmentation. Now, the agency estimates about 500 and 750 Louisiana black bears roam the region, about double the population size at the time of listing.

Conservation advocates said the recovery shows how the Endangered Species Act can work if it’s properly implemented.

“The Louisiana black bear is an Endangered Species Act success story,” said Jaclyn Lopez, Florida director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “The bear has met recovery goals 10 years ahead of schedule and is continuing to improve.”

The USFWS finalized a recovery plan in 1995, with specific goals, including at least two viable subpopulations in the Tensas and Atchafalaya river basins; the establishment of immigration and emigration corridors between the two subpopulations; and protection of the habitat and interconnecting corridors that support each of the two viable subpopulations.

Since listing under the Endangered Species Act, four breeding subpopulations of Louisiana black bears have emerged. The areas supporting Louisiana black bear breeding subpopulations have increased more than 430 percent, from 340,000 acres to more than 1.4 million acres in Louisiana and Mississippi. In addition to the proposal to delist the Louisiana black bear, the Service is soliciting comments on a draft post-delisting monitoring plan.

“The recovery of the Louisiana black bear and hundreds of other species shows that the Endangered Species Act does work,” said Lopez. “With a combination of careful monitoring, reduction in hunting and other mortality, and habitat protection, Teddy’s making a comeback.”