1 minute read
Big Bend black bears
By David Schlake
On the eve of Dec. 23, 1909, black ink soaked the Fort Worth Record and Register newsprint to tell readers of a sought-after protein with Christmas just around the corner.
Advertisement
“Bear Meat. Fat and Juicy. At the Model Meat Market. 604 Houston Street. On sale Friday.”
Today, 113 years later, such an advertisement is unheard of, largely because grocers no longer sell bear meat, but also because black bears haven’t main- tained a consistent presence in Texas since the 1950s.
The population was nearly gone until 1988 when a visitor to Big Bend National Park saw a mother black bear and three cubs, indicating a reemergence of a breeding population.
The initial spotting garnered close attention from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department for decades. However, a substantial number of black bears now moving from northern Mexico into the Big Bend and Del Rio regions has prompted a multiyear study that aims to effectively facilitate the come-
