TAHLEQUAH — Wildlife officials have a hunch the bear population in and around Cherokee County is increasing.

Last week, Game Warden Brady May assisted in the live capture of a 325-pound male black bear near the Adair-Sequoyah County line, east of the Cookson Game Refuge.

May said researchers are gathering information about the bear before it is to be released back into the area.

“There was an eight-year study that finished about three years for southeast Oklahoma,” said May. “They found that the population of black bears was so great, they could have some limited harvesting. They had a 30-bear quota, and last year, that quota was met in one day, by archery hunters. So the population is growing exponentially.”

Now, researchers want to see what the population is like in Cherokee, Adair and Sequoyah counties. May believes it’s a healthy one.

“They’ve almost completed one year of research, and the rangers have helped them with a scent station survey,” said May. “The Wildlife Department has contracted with Oklahoma State University to do research, including live trapping, radio-collaring, GPS.”

With an advancement in research techniques, May said the study should finish up in about two years.

“That means in two or three years, we could see some limited harvesting open up in this area,” said May. “It would probably be limited to archery and muzzle-loader hunters.”

Black bears, said May, have not historically been unusual in parts of Oklahoma and Arkansas, though the public may not be used to seeing or encountering them.

The population may be moving from southern Cherokee County into northern Cherokee County. This year alone, May has responded to sightings of black bears in the Moodys area, and near Peavine Public Access along State Highway 10. Landowners have captured photos of these bears through game cameras, though May said bears are known for their ability to take those cameras and destroy them.

“Right now, bears are fully protected by law,” said May. “You can’t mess with them.”

Wildlife officials have recently live-trapped what Brady described as “nuisance” bears on the southern edge of Lake Tenkiller, near Sixshooter. Nuisance bears are re-located a great distance, he said.

“Typically, if you have a nuisance black bear, if you’ll pull the dog food or bird feeders from your yard for two days or so, they’ll leave,” said May. “Through this study, we’ve learned these bears can travel up to 10, 12 miles a day.”

May said there’s typically no reason to fear a black bear.

“In my opinion, they are harmless unless you are just asking for it,” said May. “But if you have one that’s too close for comfort, and pulling dog food or bird feed hasn’t worked to keep it away, you can call us, and we can determine if it’s a nuisance bear.”

Besides tagging the live-trapped bears for tracking, participants in the study are collecting biological data, such as measurements of the bears, age estimates, and DNA samples.

So far, researchers have trapped and examined six bears in Cherokee, Adair and Sequoyah counties, both on private and public lands.

Collared female bears will be tracked to den sites, where they give birth to cubs in the winter, according to Craig Endicott, project leader and northeast region wildlife supervisor for the Wildlife Department.

The adult females can be temporarily sedated to collect data on her overall condition and to mark and gather information on cubs. The tracking collars do not affect the bears’ normal activities, and provide the researchers with location readings four times during the day.

“The GPS collars give us a fantastic look at the daily travels of the collared bears,” said Sara Lyda, an OSU research associate working with the wildlife officials. “We have already recorded that these females often travel seven to 10 miles per day within their home ranges.”

Hair samples are being collected with wire devices designed to pluck strands of fur from bears’ hides as they travel to and from bait sites. Researchers said collecting DNA from hair samples lets them pinpoint individual black bears and understand genetic diversity among bear populations from the region.

According to the Wildlife Department, black bears once ranged throughout what eventually became Oklahoma. By the early 1900s, sightings had dwindled, and researchers say land-use changes, unregulated hunting, and habitat fragmentation were at the root of the decline.

In the late 20th century, black bears began re-emerging in the state after being re-introduced in the Ozark and Ouachita mounts of Arkansas.

Wildlife officials believe the black bear presence in an area can be a sign of good wildlife habitat because habitat requirements for the creatures are typically more demanding than for other species.