Terlingua is a popular spot for tourists who come to Big Bend National Park. But on a cool clear morning earlier this year, the at Terlingua Ranch Lodge was packed with locals 鈥� plus folks from Texas Parks and Wildlife, and law enforcement.
They鈥檇 assembled to talk about a pressing problem in the community: black bears. When they first started a few years ago, some residents were worried about safety.
鈥淭he first time we saw a bear we were concerned, and we were due to leave town and we postponed our trip for a few days because we didn鈥檛 want to leave our place unprotected,鈥� said Scott Walker, a Terlingua resident.
They鈥檙e used to it now though.
鈥淲e just make loud noises and they leave. Reluctantly, but they leave,鈥� Walker said.
The meeting was called by Texas Parks and Wildlife to remind residents of the do鈥檚 and don鈥檛s of living near bears, and to share the latest research about the local population.
There鈥檚 been a in black bear activity in far West Texas over the past few years, and not just in Big Bend National Park. Many of the dumpsters in Terlingua have been swapped out for bear-proof models.
鈥淭he bears really seem to really enjoy this area,鈥� Matt Hewitt, a researcher at the , based at Sul Ross State University, said. 鈥淚t is kind of a human interface 鈥� it鈥檚 not-super populated by any means, but there are people here, and that means attractants. There are dumpsters, there are feeders and stuff, so I think bears are kind of taking advantage of this area.鈥�
Hewitt and his colleagues are conducting a on West Texas bears. There are lots of questions about them, such as what they eat, how far and fast they move, and what their interactions with humans are like.
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They do this by trapping bears and fitting them with a radio collar. Outside of the Bad Rabbit Caf茅, Hewitt and his colleagues show off their trap: a big steel pipe on a trailer that鈥檚 open on one end. A door on the open end can be hoisted up and locked in place. It slams shut whenever a bear climbs inside to get at the bait. Hewitt and the team get a text whenever they catch one.
This study will be essential to better understanding how bears behave in West Texas 鈥� which is important, because they don鈥檛 seem to be going anywhere.
鈥淵ou know, the reality is we鈥檙e back in the bear business,鈥� said Louis Harveson, director of the Borderlands Research Institute. 鈥淲e had bears basically in all corners of the state. They were extirpated. And slowly, but surely, they鈥檙e making their way back.鈥�
Bears were practically extinct in Texas by the 1950s. Hunters and ranchers killed them because of their threat to livestock and for sport.
But , a hiker photographed black bear cubs in Big Bend National Park. Sightings trickled in through the 90s and 2000s, then went up dramatically after 2011.
鈥淚n Mexico, we had the huge wildfires in 2011. It was almost a million acres that burned. So for that period of time you had all these bears with nothing to eat. So we saw this huge increase in observations of bears across the Texas border, even females with cubs,鈥� said Diana Doan-Crider, who鈥檚 spent decades studying bears in Mexico and elsewhere.
As sightings mounted, it became clear that bears had been crossing the Rio Grande, and some were staying in Texas.
The reasons for this migration are complex and not fully understood. No doubt some came north because of drought or wildfire. Others may have been looking for a place with fewer bears than the mountains of northern Mexico, where they鈥檙e populous.
Doan-Crider said that some of the female bears with cubs may have come north to avoid large numbers of grown male bears, which will occasionally kill cubs.
The Texas that these bears are entering, however, is much different than the one their ancestors may have roamed.
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滨迟鈥檚 now, for one.
The landscape is fragmented by fences and roads and railroad tracks.
And for bears 鈥� who are not super picky eaters 鈥� there鈥檚 a lot of food just lying around on the landscape. are particularly popular. Hunters fill these with corn to attract deer, turkeys, and hogs, but bears like them, too.
鈥淸Game feeders have] totally thrown everything off as far as the bear population is concerned, because now we鈥檝e added a non-natural food source that is available to these animals almost year-round. And we have bears that are living at these deer feeders and don鈥檛 even move anywhere,鈥� Doan-Crider said.
Other common attractants include dog food, bird seed and dumpsters.
Back in Terlingua, Ruben Burrola lives just a few yards away from the restaurant he works at: . One of his jobs is to tend the pits, so he鈥檚 often outside late at night to check the fire. Burrola had done this for years and never saw a bear, until one night last fall.
鈥淲hen I got [outside] I didn鈥檛 see anything. When I got close to the garbage dumpster, I saw the red eyes, and I just ran away,鈥� he said.
At first, nobody believed that Burrola saw a bear. Then, something went through their dumpsters.
鈥淎fter they started getting hit by the trash stuff, everybody was like 鈥榦h, he鈥檚 right,鈥欌�� Burrola said.
The bear came back night after night to dig through the brisket trimmings and butcher paper. Over time it got more brazen. Once, the restaurant鈥檚 owner, Don Bauchum, was meeting with Parks and Wildlife staff about the problem.
鈥淢atter of fact they were inside eating, and one of my employees was going to go out to the dumpster and said 鈥榟ey there鈥檚 the bear.鈥� So everybody runs outside, and I think they chased him up the hill here and the deputy hit him with a few rubber slugs. Which didn鈥檛 do anything 鈥� they were back the next day,鈥� said Bauchum.
Bauchum eventually ordered some bear-proof dumpsters, with a steel bar that locks over the lids.
鈥淯nless he鈥檚 got a key or can chew through metal, we鈥檙e going to be alright,鈥� he said.
The bear was eventually caught and taken to Black Gap Wildlife Management Area. This kind of story will likely become more common in Texas.
鈥淲e have to prepare the communities. We have to make sure that [people in] Alpine and Marfa and Sanderson and Del Rio know how to store their trash,鈥� Harveson said.
Black bear attacks are rare, but bears are more dangerous if they get used to humans or their food. Texas Parks and Wildlife records show bears are already getting caught up in places meant for people.
In June of 2020, a bear was walking down a residential street in and decided to hole up under a carport. Law enforcement scared it away by shooting bean bags, and the bear ran away safely.
Other encounters have ended in violence, though. In October 2020, there was a female bear with a cub in a neighborhood in Del Rio. They were out scavenging 鈥� maybe for food left out for local feral cats 鈥� the adult female.
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That kind of outcome can be avoided, according to Doan-Crider.
鈥淲e could avoid 80 percent of the problems with bears if people right off the bat would start putting their garbage in bear-proof containers. They start keeping their dog food put up. Like, don鈥檛 leave those temptations out,鈥� she said.
Doan-Crider believes that neither Texans nor state regulators are prepared for more bears.
滨迟鈥檚 not far-fetched to imagine them spreading beyond West Texas. There鈥檚 suitable black bear habitat throughout the state, and Texas is surrounded by areas in which they already live.
Demographic trends in Texas could also help black bears spread. Over time, many of the state鈥檚 large tracts of land into into smaller and smaller subdivisions.
鈥淣ow it鈥檚 full of people, and those people have garbage cans, they have swimming pools, which is also an attractant. Water鈥檚 an attractant during drought,鈥� Doan-Crider said.
The best thing people can do to prepare is to securely store anything that might attract a bear. It wouldn鈥檛 hurt to get into the practice, wherever you live in Texas.
Even if it鈥檚 not bear country now, one day it might be.
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