After a run-in with park visitors, a female black bear in Tennessee was relocated to a place where she would, hopefully, cause less trouble. But, the bear then trekked over 1,000 miles to return to her favorite park once again.
The tenacious female even crossed four states during her 6-month journey. Park workers were astonished to observe her GPS data—she had been fitted with a tracking collar—providing scientists new insight into black bear behavior.
After raiding trash cans, scavenging from picnic tables, and stealing hikers’ bags, the 5-year-old bear, known by her number, 609, was relocated 150 miles from her home at Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP) to South Cherokee National Forest (SCNF) in Polk County. But she didn’t stay put for long.
“She never stopped, she never slowed down,” supervisory wildlife biologist Bill Stiver, 58, a 32-year employee of GSMNP, told The Epoch Times. “If you look at the track of this bear, she crossed some major interstates, major roads. In fact she was hit by a car, but it didn’t kill her.”
Park staff transport 609 to her new stomping grounds in South Cherokee National Forest (SCNF) in Polk County. (Courtesy of Bill Stiver)
Park staff had caught and ear-tagged 609 previously, in 2021, before releasing her, hoping she would stay away. But in summer 2022 she returned, displaying what’s called “food conditioning behavior” at the park’s backcountry campsites. So staff decided she had to be moved ever further away—for her own good as much as park visitors.
“They have become used to people and they’re approaching people, trying to get their food and their backpacks,” Stiver said. “She kept coming into the campsite. … Her behavior got bold enough where we felt like we needed to move her before she did something really bad.”
Stiver sent field technicians to find 609, tranquilize her, and transport her from the area. She was fitted with a tracking collar, and on June 1 driven to SCNF, whom they cooperate with in the releasing of bears. But Bear 609 had other ideas.
Albeit she took a roundabout route (and then some!), 609 somehow wound up back in her old stomping grounds again.
A map shows 609’s GPS location, traversing over 1,000 miles, through 4 different states, to return to her old home at Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP). (Courtesy of Bill Stiver)
“If you can think of a double loop going counterclockwise, that’s what she did,” said Stiver, who revealed a digital map showing her journey. “She made her first loop down to Georgia, then over to South Carolina, then up towards North Carolina, and around Asheville. … On July 8, she was within five miles of where we caught her.”
After demonstrating her extraordinary homing instincts, 609 interestingly then turned south and circled back to Tennessee, where they had originally moved her. To the best of our knowledge, 609 is now back in SCNF, just north of where she was released.
“We just stopped receiving data from her, so we’re assuming that she’s in a den somewhere, and this would be the time of year,” Stiver said. “We know that moving bears within the park boundaries is not far enough.
“We have to go longer distances, at least 40 air miles or longer, to reduce that likelihood [that they will] find their way back and cause additional conflict. … Even then, some bears can find their way back. That is one of the things we’re wanting to look at.”
Data shows that 11 percent of bears relocated are legally killed by hunters, Stiver said, making bear relocations far from a safe bet—but they have few options. Another 4 percent are killed by vehicles, approximately 8 percent return to the park and caused additional conflict, while 3 percent cause conflict outside the park. Seventy-four percent, meanwhile, are unaccounted for.
A photo shows 609 with her collar along a road. (Courtesy of Kristi Carlson)
Given how little is known, GSMNP, alongside Shenandoah National Park in Virginia, received a $40,000 grant to further study the fate of relocated bears using state-of-the-art GPS technology. Stiver and his colleagues have tagged 40 bears so far, including 609.
“The GPS data is showing us some things about bears, bear habitat, their movements—things that we never knew—which is kind of cool with this technology,” Stiver said.
“One of the things we’re learning from this study is that the mortality rate is actually much higher than we thought,” he said. “[From] preliminary data, about two-thirds of the bears that we are moving are dying in roughly four months.
“A higher percentage are being taken legally by hunters, a higher percentage are being killed by cars, and a higher percentage are being euthanized either by landowners or state agencies for conflict outside the park.”
There are over two bears per square mile in GSMNP, according to Stiver. Since bears spend much time foraging for food and have an incredible sense of smell, they can become food-conditioned quickly when given access to human food and waste, which poses a threat to human safety and, ultimately, the bear.
Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agency’s education program at bearwise.org teaches people how to responsibly enjoy visiting parks that commingle with black bear populations.
“The solution is to prevent bears from becoming food-conditioned, and we can do that by not allowing bears to get our food garbage, making sure we store our food properly,” Stiver said. “If you want to protect bears, then you’ve got to be proactive.”