MAINE PUBLIC • November 28, 2025
Maine's black bear monitoring project — one of nation's longest-running bear studies — turns 50 this year. Scientists say the data collected have been an essential tool in helping to manage the state's healthy bear population. A half century later, a lot more is known about the more than 25,000 black bears in the state. Thanks to the huge data set from this field study, combined with data collected during the hunting season, biologists now have a better understanding of not just how big the population is, but also of black bear denning habits, what habitat they prefer, and how they're impacted by natural food cycles.