Second Chance Bears | Texas Wildlife

Follow along as Matt Hewitt shares his journey working in the Trans-Pecos ecoregion and the crucial research he conducts on the returning black bear population. Once nearly extinct from Texas, black bears have been migrating from Mexico allowing for more research into their behaviors. This film details how this research will aid in educating local communities about the return of black bears in Texas in hopes of giving the population a second chance.

Historically, black bears lived throughout Texas, but by the beginning of the 20th century they were rarely seen in the state. By the 1950s, no bears lived in Texas. However, a small population persisted in large, uninhabited mountain ranges of Northern Mexico.

Remarkably, in the 1990s, black bears began to travel from Mexico and disperse in parts of the Trans-Pecos ecoregion of West Texas. Researchers from the Borderlands Research Institute, along with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and local residents, are seeking to learn as much as they can about this growing black bear population in the Mountains and Basins region of Texas.

Through the Second Chance video and the accompanying support materials, experience how wildlife researchers observe bears, collect data, and collaborate with residents to learn what black bears are eating, how they use the landscape, and what we can do to live alongside black bears.

NOTE: The closed captions and Support Materials are also available in Spanish.