{"id":378191,"date":"2025-12-30T16:55:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-30T16:55:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/378191\/"},"modified":"2025-12-30T16:55:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-30T16:55:08","slug":"wisconsin-bear-complaints-are-up-are-shotgun-pellets-making-things-worse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/378191\/","title":{"rendered":"Wisconsin bear complaints are up. Are shotgun pellets making things worse?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bear complaints in Wisconsin have been on the rise in recent years, and a new study<\/a> seeks to pinpoint whether there is widespread use of birdshot to deter problem bears.<\/p>\n

Birdshot refers to shotgun shells that are filled with tiny pellets generally used for hunting birds. This fall, students at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point began investigating the prevalence of birdshot<\/a> in black bear carcasses by working with bear processors to detect the pellets.<\/p>\n

The study, supported by the Stephens Family Foundation, is part of UWSP\u2019s Black Bear Research Project<\/a>. For more than 50 years, the project has been producing research on black bear behavior, ecology and population dynamics in Wisconsin.<\/p>\n

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Examining the prevalence of birdshot in bears has been identified as a priority under the state\u2019s black bear management plan<\/a>, said Cady Sartini, associate professor of wildlife ecology and the project\u2019s principal investigator.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt can seem to people like it\u2019s not a big deal to shoot a bear with pellets. It\u2019s a big animal, and you\u2019re just giving them a little bit of extra encouragement to leave your property and not come back,\u201d Sartini said. \u201cBut in reality, we don\u2019t really know the full scope of everything that could happen to those animals once they\u2019ve been shot with those pellets.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bears may sustain injuries from birdshot that could lead to larger health problems for the animals or more conflicts as bears dig through humans\u2019 trash or otherwise enter their spaces, said Jena Garceau, a UWSP senior and Safari Club fellow.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the bears are shot in the wrong spots \u2026 sometimes what can happen is the bear can\u2019t naturally forage correctly anymore,\u201d Garceau said. \u201c(Bears) will actually end up relying more on human food sources, so it can actually make the problem worse.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wisconsin\u2019s bear population has remained relatively stable at roughly 24,000 bears<\/a>, but bear complaints have been rising in recent years. There were 647 bear complaints in Wisconsin in 2023; this year there were 847, according to data<\/a> from the U.S. Department of Agriculture\u2019s Wildlife Services program.<\/p>\n

The recent increase is largely driven by nuisance bears that target bird feeders and trash cans, with most reports occurring across far northwestern Wisconsin. The state generally sees an uptick in nuisance complaints when less natural food is available, said Randy Johnson, large carnivore specialist with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.<\/p>\n

\"Four(From left to right) UW-Stevens Point students Jena Garceau, Alaina Hibbard, Emily DeVetter, and Adrienne Cohoon pose with a black bear and her cub before putting her back in her den after collecting data as part of the Stephens Family Foundation Wisconsin Black Bear Research Project this year. Photo courtesy of Cady Sartini<\/p>\n

Next year, Sartini\u2019s student research team plans to collect surveys from bear processors to obtain data following the fall bear season. The group is working with eight processors so far, and they\u2019re looking to collaborate with more. Senior Will Watry said processors can typically identify the use of birdshot by noticeable scar tissue or the presence of pellets in bear carcasses.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re hoping to gain some more information about the location of where the bear was harvested, more accurate information about the proportions of bears that are processed that we find birdshot in and then also some hunter information if possible,\u201d Watry said.<\/p>\n

Early estimates from processors indicate anywhere from 10 to 20 percent of bears harvested contain birdshot. Sartini said some processors have previously reported up to 50 percent of bears may contain the pellets.<\/p>\n

Garceau said their goal is to pin down more accurately how often birdshot is used and where in the state it\u2019s occuring most in order to \u201cbetter educate people so that they don\u2019t feel the need to shoot bears with pellets.\u201d<\/p>\n

Johnson said he hopes the use of birdshot is declining.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have so many resources available to people that this is just not an acceptable solution to damage, to shoot a bear with birdshot,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cBut obviously it still persists out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Instead of shooting bears, Sartini\u2019s research team recommends taking down bird feeders, cleaning grills and keeping garbage stored inside buildings until the day it\u2019s collected. They also urged residents to check out the national BearWise program<\/a> on ways to prevent conflicts and resolve problems with bears as their population expands into southern Wisconsin.<\/p>\n

Bear processors interested in taking part in the study can contact Cady Sartini<\/a> at UW-Stevens Point. The group hopes to release their findings in spring of 2027.<\/p>\n

Wisconsin Public Radio, \u00a9 Copyright 2025, Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System and Wisconsin Educational Communications Board.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bear complaints in Wisconsin have been on the rise in recent years, and a new study seeks to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":378192,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[79,201],"class_list":{"0":"post-378191","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-science","9":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378191","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=378191"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378191\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/378192"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=378191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=378191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=378191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}