The ‘bear necessities’ about Michigan’s growing bear population

GRANDRAPIDS,Mich—RightnowinMichigan,itpaysto“bear”awarebecausethepopulationofblackbearsisgrowingandmovingfarthersouth. Thatcanbegreatnewsforbearhunters(theapplicationperiodrunsMay1–June1),andnon-hunterswhowantachancetoseetheanimalinthewild. “Weestimateabout12,000bearsinthestate,with10,000beingintheU.P.andabout2000beingintheLowerPeninsula,”saidJaredDuquette,MichiganDepartmentofNaturalResourcesWildlifeInteractionSpecialist. ThosenumbersarefromtheDNR’slatestcountfor2024,showingacontinuingtrend. TheDNRestimatesthebearpopulationbelowthebridgein2023wasup37%from2012,andnearly160%from1992. “Basically,about,littleoverabout12yearsago,thestatebasicallykindofcutbackonthenumberofharvesttagsthatthehunterscoulduse,”saidDuquette.“Andsosincethen,it’sallowedthepopulationtoreallyexpand,especiallyinthenorthernLowerPeninsula.Andsowiththat,youknow,it’skindoflikedevelop