As Black Bears Adapt To Humans In New England, Their Population Expands

A blazed trail in the woods of Hatfield, Massachusetts, where bears are known to roam. (Carrie Healy/NEPR)

Black bears are adapting their behavior in New England to meet seasonal food needs — they’re becoming more suburbanized.

New research shows the bear population in Massachusetts is expanding, even while the state’s human population is the third-most dense among U.S. states.

Kathy Zeller is a conservation researcher at UMass and co-authored the study. She said the bear population has grown from 100 bears in the Berkshires in the 1970s to almost 5,000 bears now.

“And that population is not only expanding in number, but is getting closer and closer to Boston,” Zeller said.

Zeller and I drove out to Hatfield, Massachusetts, to hike in the woods and look for signs of bears.