The black bear historically lived throughout North America but now is found in only about 39 states. In some southern Appalachian states, such as Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee, black bear populations are relatively low but stable in numbers. In Pennsylvania and five nearby states -- Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Virginia and West Virginia -- bear populations have recently stabilized or increased, but urbanization and agriculture have virtually eliminated bears in Delaware and Ohio.

The successful conservation of black bears is contingent on the presence of extensive forested tracts, such as those in north Central Pennsylvania. These tracts contain abundant food resources, and bears are not only very abundant, but litter sizes are higher, females breed at an earlier age, and adult body sizes are larger than elsewhere in North America.

American chestnut mast was an extremely important food source for bears; but with the accidental introduction of the chestnut blight from Asia in 1904, this tree species was eradicated from New England by the early 1920s and from the southern Appalachians by the 1940s.

Today, acorns serve as a critical source of food for bears.

If acorn crops fail in a given autumn and alternative foods are scarce, the nutritional condition of adult female bears may be lowered, thereby reducing cub survival.

After a poor acorn crop, female bears also may not breed in the following summer.

Wildlife agencies in the southern Appalachian states have taken three measures to help conserve bears: hunting restrictions, bear introductions and establishment of sanctuaries. Because bear habitat in the southeastern United States has been reduced to about 5 to 10 percent of its former extent, the future survival of black bears in the Southeast largely hinges on the availability of large tracts of federal lands.

Larger tracts of habitat are especially valuable to remnant or low bear populations if they are relatively inaccessible to humans.

For instance, dramatic declines in bear populations in the southern Appalachians, which began in the 1960s, were attributed partially to hunters who had ready access to bear habitat on national forests, combined with their improved hunting efficiency and use of high-tech equipment (such as CB radios and radio-collared hunting dogs).

Large, relatively road-free tracts of bear habitat also can make it more difficult for poachers to gain access to suitable bear populations; this will help to curtail the illegal killing of bears for sale of their body parts (including gall bladders, claws and teeth).

Gall bladders and paws of bears are highly prized in some Asian markets. The tennis-ball-size gall bladder of a black bear sold in 1995 for as much as $200 in the United States and for thousands of dollars in some Asian markets. Some Asian cultures believe that gall bladders and bile relieve stomach ailments and fever, prevent liver cancer and serve as an aphrodisiac.

Although the extent of bear poaching in North America is unknown, it continues to occur. A well-publicized investigation in the late 1980s, called "Operation Smoky," was conducted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Park Service, and wildlife agencies in Tennessee, North Carolina and Georgia in an effort to curb black bear poaching in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and vicinity. During a three-year period, "Operation Smoky" resulted in the arrest and conviction of 52 poachers; more than $100,000 in fines was levied for the illegal killing of 368 black bears.

Obviously, poaching of this magnitude can have substantial effects on black bear populations in some of the Southeastern states. In a case closer to home, two people were charged in 1999 with illegally buying gall bladders in Pennsylvania.

So, in the recent news, you may have read about the three poachers who went for a drive in the mountains of north Central Pennsylvania to see if they could find some bears.

As they were driving along a gravel road, they rounded a curve and saw a sign that read: "BEAR LEFT."

They then turned around and went home!