Archbold Biological Station, P.O. Box 2057, Lake Placid, Florida 33862 USA
Phone: 863-465-2571 FAX: 863-699-1927 send e-mail

On 6 September 2005, a female Florida Black Bear (Ursus americanus floridanus) was captured at Archbold Biological Station by a team of scientists from the University of Kentucky. Since early 2004, these scientists  (Dr. David S. Maehr; Wade Ulrey, graduate student; Joseph M. Guthrie, graduate student) have been studying the movements of black bears in southern Highlands County, Florida, with radio-telemetry and satellite transmitters, to determine habitat use, population size, and population demography and genetics. Based at Archbold, they trap most of the bears southeast of the Station on ranches off the Lake Wales Ridge. Numerous bear sightings at the Station during August 2005 led the team to try to capture this Station bear. The bear (F14) was captured on Red Hill in the Southeast Tract of the Original property. David Maehr estimated the bear's age to be 2.5 - 3.5 years.

Figures 1 & 2 show F14 captured by a cable snare, a standard technique used by bear biologists. The bear was safely tranquilized with Telazol administered with a pole syringe. Quickly, the team examined F14 (Figs. 3-5), taking measurements and collecting ectoparasites and blood and tissue samples before they placed the radio-collar around its neck. Figure 4 shows Dave Maehr (standing) with the radio collar in his hands. The procedure was done in the shade, in the cool of the morning, and the scientists placed ice packs on the bear's body (Figs. 3 & 4) to keep the animal cool. In the photos, Maehr wears a blue shirt, Guthrie wears a tan cap, and collaborator Erin N. Maehr, University of Florida graduate student, wears a blue cap. Figure 6 shows the bear, with its radio-collar, recovering from the tranquilizer. After recovery, F14 moved several hundred meters to the north. During the next few weeks this young female bear remained at Archbold, gorging on palmetto fruits (Serenoa repens, Sabal etonia). Digital photos by David Maehr (Figs. 1,2,6) and Mary E. Warrick (Figs. 3-5).

Highlands County, Florida, has a sizeable bear population. See: Maehr, et al. 2004 (Status of the black bear in south-central Florida. Florida Field Naturalist 32:85-101) for a detailed summary including; seasonal bear activity, relation between bear sightings and the annual acorn crop at Archbold, and regional highway mortality.

After her capture, this female black bear (#14) spent most of her time on the original property of Archbold Biological Station, until the fateful day of 18 November 2005, when she was killed by a vehicle while crossing highway US27 due east of the Station.

Additional Reading

"Central Florida Ranches are Key to the Black Bear's Future" -- A PDF file of a recent (2007) article by David S. Maehr in Florida Cattleman magazine. (Maehr, D.S. 2007. Florida Cattleman 71(12):90,92,94,96).

"The Black Bear in South Central Florida" -- This is a link to a University of Kentucky, Department of Forestry, Web page about the Highlands County study.

"Black Bears in Florida" -- This is a link to a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Web page where you will find more details about this Univ. Kentucky research project if you select "Research" from the sidebar and scroll down the resulting page to the second project. Note also the link in the first paragraph of this Research page to a comprehensive BIBLIOGRAPHY about black bears.