New York’s black bear hunters can help state wildlife officials monitor the health and size of the state’s bear population simply by sharing a small piece of their harvest.
The state Department of Environmental Conservation is seeking hunters to participate in its Black Bear Management Cooperator Program, an effort that collects information on the age, sex and weight of harvested bears.
DEC uses the data collected over successive hunting seasons to track changes in the state’s black bear population and help guide future management decisions.
Determining a bear’s age requires a premolar tooth. DEC examines growth patterns in the root of an extracted tooth to estimate the animal’s age.
Hunters who report their bear harvest and submit a premolar tooth will receive a commemorative patch and information about the age of their bear. Hunters may also bring their bears to participating taxidermists or meat processors, who can remove and submit the tooth on the hunter’s behalf.
DEC cautions that bear jaws or skulls submitted instead of a premolar tooth will not be analyzed for an age estimate.
A list of cooperating taxidermists and meat processors is available at https://dec.ny.gov/nature/animals-fish-plants/black-bear/management/cooperator-program
DEC generally receives the results of its bear age analysis in late summer or early fall and mails age information and commemorative patches to participating hunters soon afterward.
The program provides DEC with information that would otherwise be difficult to collect on a statewide scale, while giving hunters a closer look at the animals they harvest.
