Bear activity in South Burlington this year has reached a new high, prompting state wildlife officials to emphasize the need to prevent bear conflicts in densely populated areas.
As of July 31, the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department had received 14 bear incident reports in South Burlington this year, compared to just three for all of 2022, according to the department’s black bear project leader, Jaclyn Comeau.
“Folks in South Burlington in the past have not, rightfully so, thought of themselves as being in bear country,” Comeau said. “And at the moment, it’s looking like we need to change that mindset.”
Researchers believe most of the recorded incidents in the area involve two yearling bears and their mother passing between Shelburne and Williston, Comeau said, adding that the bears have likely become accustomed to finding easy meals of birdseed and unsecured garbage. As of last week, the most recent report of bears in the area came from Williston on July 27, preceded by one in Shelburne on July 17 and one in South Burlington on June 29.
Recent years have seen a rise in bear-related incidents statewide, and increasingly in densely populated communities such as Rutland, Montpelier, Barre and more populated parts of Chittenden County.
“Over the past five to 10 years, we’ve been seeing kind of this little creep of the population … into the upper Champlain Valley and into some of our more urban residential areas,” Comeau said.
Based on the data the department has collected since 2011, the top five towns with the most bear reports are Stowe, Killington, Hartford, Wilmington and Warren.
But officials are particularly concerned about the unusual uptick in sightings in the South Burlington area.
Bears often take time traveling around before settling down in one area, so state officials haven’t been historically worried about bears passing through densely populated areas, Comeau said. But the continued presence of the juvenile bears in the South Burlington area indicates that these bears were born in and have now made a home in these unlikely areas.
In a press release last month calling attention to the bear sightings, Comeau called it “a dangerous situation for these bears and for people,” noting that, “many residents may not be used to coexisting safely with bears.”
Bears are native to Vermont and were widely distributed across the region before colonial settlers arrived, according to Comeau. Subsequent agricultural land use, habitat loss and unregulated hunting decreased black bear populations, and black bear sightings were relatively uncommon outside remote parts of the Green Mountains and Northeast Kingdom until the 1970s.
Today, the species is found statewide except in the Champlain Islands, and a stable population hovering between 4,000 and 6,000 bears has persisted over most of the last decade, according to Fish & Wildlife.
“Black bears in Vermont are a conservation success, and our surveys show most Vermonters want a healthy bear population in our state,” Comeau said. “But that means that if you live in Vermont, you live in bear country and are responsible for taking proactive steps to prevent conflicts with bears.”
According to Fish & Wildlife, the leading cause of bear conflicts are unsecured food sources such as trash containers or bird feeders, which teach bears to associate people with easy access to food.
Fish & Wildlife said residents can discourage bears from seeking out food in developed areas by securing garbage until collection day morning, protecting backyard chicken flocks with electric fencing, composting properly and removing bird feeders until there is snow on the ground.
Purposely feeding bears is illegal.
During bear encounters, Fish & Wildlife generally advises people to remain calm, ensure the bear has an escape route, and back away when possible. If Vermonters notice bears seeking food in their yards or in public places like campgrounds, Fish & Wildlife advises that they should report the incident.
