BANGOR DAILY NEWS • March 30, 2022
A few weeks ago, I joined members of the bear crew from the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife to survey a black bear sow in its den. Approximately 80 of Maine’s 35,000 black bears are outfitted with tracking collars. Wildlife technicians visit the dens of the collared sows every winter to evaluate and record health information about the bears. By monitoring the health and survival of these bears, biologists can infer what bears are experiencing across the state, information which helps them maintain a stable bear population.