Why North Carolina Grows Giant Black Bears | NC Bear Biologist

North Carolina grows some absolutely massive black bears—but why are the biggest bears overwhelmingly coming from the coast?In Episode 25 of the SITKA Southeast Podcast, Jake sits down with Jenna Malzahn, Bear Biologist with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, to talk about North Carolina's black bear population, the difference between mountain and coastal bears, bear behavior, habitat, hunting and what decades of wildlife management have taught us about one of the state's most impressive big-game animals.Jenna explains how North Carolina's bear population recovered to more than 20,000 bears, why coastal and mountain bears can behave so differently, how far a male bear's home range can extend, what drives hibernation, how bears use their incredible sense of smell and what warning signs hunters and hikers should recognize when they're too close to a bear. We also get into the hunting side: how difficult bears are to pattern compared with deer, where to look for bears on coastal public land, how agriculture and natural food sources influence movement, and why some of North Carolina's coastal bears reach extraordinary sizes. Jenna specifically recommends looking at edges near agriculture when trying to locate coastal bears on public land because bears can travel between agricultural food sources and the security cover of game lands. Plus, Jenna explains how NCWRC uses teeth collected from harvested bears to determine their ages. The lab can count annual deposits in the tooth similarly to rings in a tree, and Jenna says the state sends more than 4,000 teeth for processing each year. If you hunt bears in North Carolina—or have ever wondered how these animals live, move and grow so large—this episode is for you.