Black bears spotted near Congaree National Park. Are they there to stay?

When Ken McRae checked the photos in his wildlife camera last summer, he saw the image of a black bear standing in a clearing next to Congaree National Park.

“I’ve never had a bear on camera before and I’ve hunted the area for ... years,’’ said McRae, a member of a hunting club adjacent to the preserve. “I’m no expert, but I think the bear was 250 pounds or thereabouts.’’

McRae’s discovery was one of numerous sightings during 2017 that have raised questions about whether bears are moving into the 27,000-acre nature preserve southeast of Columbia.

Congaree National Park officials have said for years they doubt bears are living in the park, but many people expect that to change as bears expand their range in South Carolina. Already, there are signs that black bears have wandered through Congaree National, even if they aren’t reproducing there, park officials say.

“We’ve had sightings’’ along the park’s boundary, ranger Liz Struhar said, noting that officials had received a report of a bear print at the park’s edge. “I haven’t seen signs of a family or cubs or anything like that, but I believe they’re obviously utilizing the park to some extent, or cutting through.’’

Some people might be afraid of black bears moving into a park that attracts more than 100,000 visitors each year. The bulky animals can be dangerous if provoked, but wildlife biologists say black bears typically shy away from people. Black bears are the state’s largest mammals, with adults weighing anywhere from 150 pounds to 600 pounds in South Carolina.

Iconic symbols of the American landscape, most S.C. bears live in the mountains north or Greenville or along the coast west of Myrtle Beach. Their range once included what now is Congaree National Park, a massive forested flood plain known for its towering trees.

Congaree encounters

Black bear populations plummeted after European settlers arrived in the Palmetto State, but the animals have made a comeback in recent years. They have been reported in most of the state’s 46 counties. Today, South Carolina has an estimated 1,200 resident black bears.

Since last summer, the S.C. Department of Natural Resources has received a number of reports about bears in lower Richland County and across the Congaree River in Calhoun County adjacent to the national park. Charles Ruth, the state wildlife department’s big game coordinator, said the sightings might involve multiple bears, although that is unknown.

In addition to McRae’s trail camera footage, hunters and landowners have reported that a bear had gotten into bee hives and deer feeders within a few miles of the park.

Deer and hog processor Bobby McDonald said he knows of six different places where a bear has been spotted not far from the park. That includes the Fort Motte area in Calhoun County just across the Congaree River.

At the Belle Grove hunting plantation in Richland County, a trail camera snapped several pictures of a bear roaming through the private preserve in September, the club reports. Belle Grove is between the national park and Columbia along Bluff Road.

“It was a nice-sized bear,’’ Belle Grove club member Monty Todd said. “It was eating corn.’’

Moms and cubs

While prospects that bears might be in the national park surprises some people, DNR biologist Tammy Wactor was unfazed by last summer’s reports.

Wactor said a handful of bears are known to travel along river corridors between the mountains and the coast, and with Congaree National Park in the middle, it’s no surprise they might be in the park. The park also is part of a larger woodland that extends well southeast of Columbia to the Sparkleberry Swamp and Lake Marion.

Typically, bears that move through the state are young males searching for mates and food. If females begin raising cubs in places like Congaree National Park, a permanent population of black bears would begin to take root there, experts say.

McRae, a State Law Enforcement Division agent, and others said they expect bears to be found in the park eventually. The DNR’s Ruth agreed.

“Bears are doing well and we are getting more and more of these individual sightings’’ across the state, Ruth said. “In 20 years, there may be a stand alone population in the Congaree area.’’

John Grego, a long time leader with Friends of Congaree Swamp, said he’s looking forward to that day.

“It would be exciting if there are signs of range of expansion into the park,’’ Grego said. “I think this would be largely welcomed.’’

Reach Fretwell at 803 771 8537

This story was originally published December 23, 2017 at 8:01 AM with the headline "Black bears spotted near Congaree National Park. Are they there to stay?."