Bears & Roads

Black bear habitat is crisscrossed with highways and roads. While searching for food or mates, bears often cross these roads; many make it across, but others are struck and killed. Since legal hunting was closed in 1994, nearly 90% of the known bear mortalities were caused by vehicles.

Because bears are such large animals, vehicles that strike them can be totaled, severely injuring or killing the occupants. Conservation efforts to reduce vehicle-bear collisions include: warning signs, slower posted speed limits, and wildlife underpasses. To avoid collisions with all wildlife, be alert by driving slower in heavily wooded areas and areas marked with warning signs.

Vehicle collisions with bears have increased steadily since 1976, when data collection first began.  Many factors contributed to this increasing trend. Some of the more prominent factors include: increasing bear populations, increasing traffic volumes and speeds, and bear movements due to dispersal and weather. The impact of this increasing trend differs depending on whether the bear populations are also increasing, decreasing, or remaining stable.  FWC recently completed a study that answers what impact vehicle collisions have on Florida's bear populations.

Similar to the number of human/bear conflicts, most of the vehicle-bear collisions since 1976 have occurred in the Ocala bear population. Statewide, eight of 15 areas identified as having chronic roadkill problems occur in this population. Recent research investigated ways to reduce this loss in one of the worse areas: State Road 40 through the Ocala National Forest.