Florida Bear Tracks
Photography provided by Carlton Ward Jr
Reconnecting Wild Florida
Join Shelby Shiver, a black bear biologist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), and her all-female team in South Florida as they embark on a critical mission: capturing and tagging black bears. Their goal? To gather vital population data to help estimate the growth of Florida’s black bear numbers. This essential research aims to discover whether or not black bear subpopulations across the state are interconnected and thriving thanks to protected wildlife corridors, or if further conservation efforts need to be made to protect species amidst rapid human development.
Florida is home to seven geographically distinct bear subpopulations
Once found throughout the state, Florida black bears now exist in seven different groups that could become further isolated by Florida’s rapid development. Four of the subpopulations have populations of 1,000 bears or more, while three have 200 bears or fewer.
To support the long-term health of Florida’s black bears, their subpopulations must be connected. Adult males may roam over 120 square miles in search of mates and food, but expanding development and roadways continue to fragment their habitat. Without a connected wildlife corridor, these threats jeopardize the bears’ genetic diversity and survival, with the smaller populations facing the most immediate risks.
The solution lies in preserving and restoring connectivity through the conservation of the Florida Wildlife Corridor—an 18-million-acre network of interconnected public and private wild lands that allows bears and other wildlife to move safely throughout the landscape. Protecting this corridor is essential to the future of the Florida black bear.
Special thanks
Palm Beach Zoo & Conservation Society
Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge
Live Wildly Foundation
Bergeron Everglades Foundation
Fish & Wildlife Foundation of Florida
National Geographic Society
US Fish and Wildlife
Wild Foundation
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