The July 26 edition of The Village Nature Series will focus on Living with Bears, a presentation by Highlands BearWise Director Cynthia Strain, 6:00 P.M. at The Village Green Commons in Cashiers. The program is free and open to everyone. Explore the nuances of bear behavior and how we can peace-fully, and happily, co-exist with a treasured mountain species.Ms. Strain’s group made national headlines last year when Highlands became the country’s first certified BearWise community. That means the town has developed strategies to prevent conflicts, provides resources to resolve problems, and encourages community initiatives to keep bears wild.Those goals are of vital importance for the Plateau, since human-black bear encounters have skyrocketed over the last 10 years. While it can be a memorable experience to see wild black bears in a neighborhood, it’s a risky one. Human-bear conflict is exacerbated by increased human development and subse-quent habitat fragmentation, resulting in the increased likeli-hood of bears coming into contact with humans, especially in urban areas. Those interactions can be dangerous for humans and deadly for bears. Unfortunately, bears can become reliant on human sources of food and display more assertive or aggressive behaviors toward people. When such conflict arises, those “problem bears” often must be put down by Wildlife Resources staff.The Village Nature Series is a project of the Highlands-Cashiers Land Trust and The Village Green of Cashiers.
by Luke Osteen
Favorites Count: 0