BEarWARE

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Rachelle Elsea
  • 325th FIghter Wing Public Affairs
TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  The number of bear-related incidents and sightings at Tyndall AFB has climbed in recent years, requiring the base to take more aggressive measures to handle these incidents. While no one has been attacked by the bears, they have become a significant nuisance to base housing residents.

"Based on observations, we estimate that ten bears account for the majority of the incidents in base housing," said Allen Richmond, Chief of Natural Resources, 325th Civil Engineer Squadron. "Of these bears, four were male and the rest were female. We estimate the largest male weighed in the 400-pound range. One of the females had four bear cubs, and we expect they will return to the base housing area," he said.

He said the Natural Resources Flight plans to trap and tag the bears in accordance with Fish and Wildlife Commission policies.

"We plan to trap and tag the bears using our live trap-trailer. The FWC has a three strikes policy on nuisance bears, which limits what we can do with them," he explained. "The first time a bear is trapped, it is ear tagged and hazed before being released to the area where it was trapped. The second time it is trapped, it will be moved to the far east end of the Tyndall reservation. If it is trapped a third time, state policy calls for it to be relocated off base or euthanized."

Natural Resources purchased a simple square cage last year that utilizes sliding doors to trap the bear. The device was baited with cookies and molasses-covered popcorn as a lure.

"We are aggressively trying to catch the bears," said Mr. Richmond. "Basically, our constraint is that the state is responsible for the wildlife and we are a designated state wildlife management area. Therefore we have to comply with state laws that dictate how we handle or treat bears."

Bears captured before have a green tag on each ear and/or a series of numbers tattooed right outside their lower lip. The numbers are kept in a database to identify how many times the bear has been captured and to where they were placed upon relocation.

Nuisance bear behavior can be prevented, but Tyndall housing has become an attractive food source for the bears because residents are not taking the proper precautions.

To help prevent the bears from coming into housing Team Tyndall members should:
· Store trash and trash bins in a secure area until the morning of trash pick-up.
· Keep pet food inside
· Remove bird feeders
· Clean outdoor grills and store in secure area. 
- Never feed bears, it is a crime!

With the help of everyone on Tyndall we can help prevent bear-related incidents.

If you see a bear in housing, call Security Forces at 283-2254. If you have additional questions about bears and want to know more about what you can do to make our community safer, call Natural Resources at 283-2641 or Balfour Beatty Communities at 286-1700.