Hard Truths of Conservation (2022) s01e11 Episode Script

1
- Black bears are North
America's most familiar
and common bears,
but when it comes to
conserving the species,
there is no one size
fits all solution.
Black bears are one of
the most photographed
of all wildlife species,
and there is little doubt
that bears have
captivated the curiosities
of hunters and
non-hunters alike.
(bright music)
My aim is to understand how
different approaches can work
in different parts
of the country.
(compelling music)
Hunting has become a
controversial practice
in modern times.
My name is Dan Cabela, and
I'm traveling the globe
to explore the true impact
that hunting is having
on our remaining
wild landscapes.
This practice goes as far back
as human history can remember,
but does it have a place
in modern conservation?
(lion growls)
(compelling music)
(bright music)
(birds chirping)
Bear hunting is deeply
rooted in our history,
and the hunting of American
black bears has taken place
since the initial
settlement of the Americas.
They range from northern
Mexico through the US
to Northern Canada,
and are the smallest
of the three bear species
found in North America.
There are over 300,000 black
bears in the United States,
and their conservation status
is listed as least concerned
by the International Union
for Conservation of Nature.
While many states have
an abundance of bears,
certain states have faced
critically low numbers.
While black bear populations
are healthy as a whole,
their distribution varies
across different states,
and a unique
approach is required
to their conservation
in different contexts.
Robust science is the foundation
for conservation management
decisions, and in states
like Oklahoma and Arkansas,
a lot of work is being done
to better understand the
black bear populations.
(upbeat music)
I'm heading to Oklahoma to
meet a team of researchers
and participate in an
initiative to study
their growing bear population.
Black bears are sensitive
to habitat loss,
so as human
encroachment increased,
black bear populations
became patchy
to non-existent in Oklahoma.
The impacts of
urban development,
unregulated hunting,
and habitat fragmentation
further caused
black bear decline in the state.
Through sound
conservation practices
and initiatives that were
funded by hunters' dollars,
the black bear
population has rebounded,
and the first hunting season
took place in Oklahoma in 2009.
(bright music)
I am going to be joining a
team of researchers in Oklahoma
to study their black bear.
The only catch is that we'll
need to crawl into a den
to tranquilize a sow
while she hibernates.
(birds chirping)
(peaceful music)
Since you've started doing this,
has the population increased
or just been stable, decreased?
- So when we jumped back
into this area back in 2014
to start studying again to see
how the hunting season had
affected the population,
(bright music)
- [Dan] Black bears create
their dens in the ground
under a windfall or in
a hollow tree or cave.
Once a den is located, the
female with cubs is immobilized
and put to sleep with
the use of a jab stick
containing a dart
loaded with anesthesia,
and the cubs are then
removed, weighed, measured,
and sex is determined before
being returned to the den.
(bright music)
(bright music)
(indistinct chatter)
- [Researcher] Two point five?
- [Researcher] Two point five.
(bright music)
- [Dan] Because they're too
small to apply ear tags,
each cub will have a microchip
inserted under the skin
which will be used to
age bears into the future
if one is harvested or
dies of natural causes.
(cub squealing)
(bright music)
- Everybody loves the cubs.
It's really easy to
like those little guys,
but to me, it's the moms
that do all the hard work,
and so I tend to
spend as much time
with those girls as I can.
She's still got her ear tags.
We've already checked
the lip tattoo
that they gave to her
during the summer.
Then Courtney will climb in,
and we will adjust her
collar if it needs adjusting,
and we're going to
replace the cotton spacers
that we built into the collar.
(uplifting music)
- It's like something I
never could've imagined,
really cool, I mean,
this is awesome,
hard to describe, beautiful.
Mom's waking up, so we're
putting the cubs back
in the den, and I think we're
about to wrap it up here.
(cub squawking)
(uplifting music)
All right little guy.
- This was a fantastic day.
You know, we do a lot of
planning, and you always hope
that it's gonna go right, and
this is one of those times
but she presented
a good shoulder for
us, and we were able
to get a good jab, and she
went down very quickly,
and everybody stayed healthy
throughout the process,
which is always our primary
concern, making sure
that she's healthy while
we're working with her here.
And the cubs are
in great condition,
so we couldn't ask for a
better day in the bear woods.
- After a successful bear
denning, I'm off to Arkansas
where conservationists
have been working hard
to restore their
bear population.
(bright music)
Arkansas was once known
as the bear state,
with pre-settlement estimates
of up to 50,000 bears.
Once settlers arrived and began
to clear and farm the land,
suitable bear habitat
became scarce.
In the 1930s, it was estimated
that Arkansas only had
50 black bears left.
Bear hunting was
officially banned in 1927,
and the ban
continued until 1980.
In the 1960s, Arkansas
Game and Gish imported
over 250 black bears
to reinvigorate the
state's population.
This repopulation is one of
the greatest success stories
of wildlife management
in the United States.
The latest estimate is
around 5,500 bears statewide.
The project I am participating
in aims to monitor
the population growth
rates in Arkansas
by equipping adult females
with tracking collars
across the bear range,
which will also be used to
monitor reproduction rates
as well as provide valuable
harvest information,
enabling the state to make
informed conservation
management decisions.
Myron Means and his team
are taking me to check
on the bear traps
they have been using
to attract a suitable candidate
to fit with a GPS collar.
- So you know, we'll
put the sardines in here
on the bait hook,
bait 'em in there,
and so when the
bear comes up to it,
they can't stick their nose
in there because it's too big,
so they're gonna back up.
Theoretically, they're gonna
stick their hand in there,
and when they do pull
the bait hook down,
this throwing arm
assembly will come up
and cinch this snare cable here
that we have inside
the bucket like so,
and it'll go tight
around their foot,
and they'll be
tethered to the tree.
You know, right now, we're
kind of battling Mother Nature.
We're battling a pretty
good blackberry crop.
Bears are just that way.
You know, when Mother
Nature provides,
sometimes it's hard
to replace that.
- [Dan] And that's
why we're gonna give
'em a little dessert
this morning.
- That's right, we're gonna
give 'em a little sweet.
You know, if they're
used to eating sweet,
we're gonna give
them a little sweet.
So we're gonna mix some
raspberry jello packets in here.
We're gonna mix some
vanilla extract,
which has a really good,
strong aromatic smell.
- [Dan] Well, let's hope
that makes a difference.
- Let's hope. (chuckling)
(peaceful music)
- Myron and the team
have been struggling
for weeks to catch bears
due to the abundance
of blackberries in the area,
but with a stroke of luck,
an hour after setting the trap,
a bear has been
spotted on the bait.
(uplifting music)
- [Myron] It's the very
beginning of a great project.
- So excited for sure.
- Yeah, this will be
the first GPS collar put
on a bear in the Gulf coastal
plane, you know, ever, so.
- Yeah, that's pretty cool
when you think about it.
- It is, it is.
- [Dan] The bear is in the
trap, and the team prepares
the dart gun and
equipment needed
for the collaring
and sampling process.
- The drug cocktail that we're
using on this bear is BAM.
It's a really good drug,
that we found, on bears.
Once he's darted, it'll probably
take him five minutes or so
before he's, you know,
manageable, handleable.
So this particular dart
assembly is a side inject port,
in other words, it
doesn't inject out the end
like most darts do, because
it doesn't wanna blow the dart
back out the animal.
It doesn't use a chemical
charge or a powder charge.
Has a stopper here
and a plunger here,
and this chamber is
filled with air pressure,
and the ports on the needle's
covered with the sleeve,
so as it goes into the
animal, pushes the sleeve off
of these ports, and therefore,
the pressure in here pushes
the plunger forward and
delivers the drug out the side.
It isn't barbed, so it's
less trauma to the animal,
but you gotta charge
'em with air first.
(dart clicking)
This particular dart projector's
a CO2 charge projector.
It's extremely accurate
because you can dial
the charge rate up and down,
and plus we have a laser,
if you can see the
laser on the tree.
(projector popping)
(bright music)
- So we've moved her
uphill so that the pressure
of her organs are
off her diaphragm.
It'll make it easier
for her to breathe,
and we're setting her up
on anesthesia right now
with supplemental oxygen.
AJ's putting eyedrops
and bandaids on,
because while they're
under anesthesia,
they can't protect
their eyes and blink,
so this will keep 'em
from getting injured.
(bear sighing)
Yeah, sister, you can
do all that you want to.
(bright music)
We will look at,
we'll bank the blood,
look at viral exposures.
- [Researcher] I put that too.
- [Jennifer] These will be
kind of our control population
compared to our population
that's affected with mange,
to see if there's any
relationship there
between viral exposures
that could make them
immunosuppressed and the
development of clinical mange.
(bright music)
- [Dan] Each bear is fitted
with a GPS tracking collar.
Their vitals are checked
and measurements taken.
Blood is drawn, and
they are weighed.
(bright music)
- [Jennifer] Zero,
yeah, you're good.
(bright music)
- [Researcher] Ready?
(cable clanking)
- [Jennifer] 149.
- [Researcher] No way.
(bright music)
- There she goes.
Hey, baby.
(bright music)
Easy.
Hey.
- Things change in a hurry.
(both chuckling)
- Do they ever.
(both chuckling)
- After seeing some of the
incredible conservation work
being done to bring bears
back across the country,
I'm traveling to Maine,
where there are already
healthy numbers of the species.
Maine has the largest
black bear population
of the lower 48 states.
If bear hunting were
to stop in Maine,
it would have a devastating
effect on prey species
such as deer and moose caps.
It would also be
detrimental to the economies
of rural communities.
Bear hunting income for many
family owned businesses is 40
to 50% of total income.
(bright music)
- By hunter harvest, prevent
the bears from getting
to a density that's so high
that's unhealthy for them,
and I certainly want
to see bears thrive
and not struggle to survive.
I mean, that's the thing that
I always wanted to be sure
that we were managing
the bears in such a way
that they never got
into a situation
where they were having
trouble producing cubs,
having trouble raising cubs,
starving, killing each other,
or really the worst of
all, dying of disease.
(waves lapping)
(bright music)
- [Dan] Maine is home
to pristine habitat
for black bears,
and we head out in
search of a suitable male
for me to harvest.
(bright music)
Hunting for a black bear
in these dense woods
is not a simple task.
It requires many days
of hiking, driving,
checking trail cams,
and following tracks
before getting an opportunity.
(bright music)
Trail cameras help us to scout
the vast area in the hopes
that a boar may have
been passing through.
- [Hunter] Got any boars?
- [Hunter] Was it six o'clock
last night or this morning?
- [Hunter] This morning.
- Looks like a pretty good
bear, I don't know, 250, 300,
was in here at three
o'clock in the morning.
We're gonna go get
the other houndsmen
and try and get 'em
combined together
and see if we can't
get this done.
(compelling music)
(compelling music)
(dogs barking)
- [Tom] Come back real
quick till we're ready.
Give him a second.
Let him start to
get the thing down,
but that bear starts to
come down, you shoot it.
(dogs barking)
- [Hunter] Right now?
- [Hunter] Just left
of that big tree.
(gun firing)
- There is a mix of
emotions that come
over you when you successfully
harvest an animal,
but no matter your
feelings on the topic,
the fact is that
well-regulated hunting is
an effective conservation tool,
and it generates a
large amount of funding
that is in turn used
to protect the species.
(peaceful music)
There is a misconception
that black bear meat is
not utilized by the hunter.
Black bear meat is
fantastic eating,
and it's particularly
great in stews, chilies,
and sausages because of
its high fat content.
Native Americans utilized
black bears each season,
and the meat of the black bear
was a preferred food source
of the American frontier.
(boat motor humming)
(bright music)
Today, Nathan from OMM
Outfitters is taking me
to taste some black bear meat
and find out more about
how it is processed.
(bright music)
I think there's definitely
something special
about harvesting your own food.
You know, I think that has a
core meaning to every hunter.
- Yeah, field to table, I
think, is very important,
especially in this day and age,
and knowing where
your food comes from.
- You got hot Italian,
sweet Italian.
This is summer sausage,
and this is blueberry
apple breakfast sausage.
- [Dan] Okay, wow.
- So this is all bear meat here.
- A lot of people might
not realize the variety
that you can get
through these sausages
and different meat
cuts out of a bear.
- I mean, the pepperoni,
you could really cut the
pepperoni up, put it on a pizza,
and you wouldn't
notice a difference.
- Not all conservation
conversations are the same,
and as I learned by visiting
the three different states,
black bear conservation
is complex,
and requires a unique
approach in each landscape.
The hunting of black
bears plays a role
in population management, and
the business model associated
with it generates
funding for bear research
and the conservation
of the species.
(bright music)
Allowing hunting going
forward will help to keep
their habitat wild,
and in combination
with understanding their
populations through science,
ensure that black
bears remain common
with enough habitat to
thrive into the future.
(bright music)