Bears May Search For Food In NM Communities

From KOAT-TV.com - NewsNM (Swickard) Remember the old saying, "A fed (by human) bear becomes a dead bear" Do not feed them as they become a problem bear for humans which ends in their death.

This is the month that bears wake up from their winter hibernation, and they might head down from the mountains in search of food. In April, 5,000 to 6,000 black bears awake from their winter sleep in New Mexico. However, the mountainside might not provide enough nourishment. “There is food on the ground. It’s just not as abundant as years past,” Brandon Griffith, with New Mexico Game and Fish, said. The limited snowpack and almost completely rain-free spring make easy food tough to come by for bears. “They are foraging on leftover juniper berries from last season. Grass, if it is growing, they are foraging on grass at this time. Insects are starting to come around,” Griffith said. New Mexico’s black bears do have one thing going for them; they have plenty of space to roam. If rain remains scarce, their main source of food by late summer may not grow, and that could mean bears searching for food in New Mexico communities. Read more

Bears May Search For Food In NM Communities