Black Bear Damages in Virginia

Executive Summary

Analyze incidents of damage performed by black bears based upon county of incidence and type of occurrence.

POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS: providing more resources for counties

that are shown to have an increased likelihood for bear damage and conflict

changes in land use and zoning for those counties with a higher incident rate.

Goals

Determine which Virginia counties have the most incidents of black bear damage and sightings, as well as the various types

Obtain an accurate portrayal of black bear confrontations within Virginia

Objectives

Create map of Virginia counties

Convert data from raw data into .dbf table

Join data to county shapefile and analyze

Data

County shapefile VDGIF raw data for 2006-2007

PROBLEMS scattered reporting 2 different codes used on forms

Virginia Counties with Black Bear Damage Incidents

Vir

gin

ia C

ou

nti

es

wit

h B

lac

k B

ea

r In

cid

en

ts

Kayle Severin

0 25 50 75 10012.5

Miles

Counties with Black Bear Incidents

Black Bear Incidents

Counties

Public Safety Concerns

Wythe

CarrollSmyth

Albemarle

TazewellCampbell

Grayson

Bla

ck

Be

ar

Pu

bli

c S

afe

ty C

on

ce

rns

by

Co

un

ty

Kayle Severin

Number of IncidentsPublic_Safety

SAFETY

1

3

5

17

22

Counties

0 25 50 75 10012.5

Miles

Trash Disturbances

Lee

Bath

Wythe

Carroll

DinwiddieWise

Albemarle

Giles

Page

TazewellCampbell

Grayson

Buchanan

Pulaski

Madison

Clarke

Lancaster

Bla

ck

Be

ar

Da

ma

ge

by

Vir

gin

ia C

ou

nty

- T

ras

h

Kayle Severin

Number of IncidentsTrash

TRASH

1

2

3

4

8

15

16

75

Counties

0 25 50 75 10012.5

Miles

Property Damage

Dinwiddie

Fauquier

Albemarle

Page

TazewellCampbell

Grayson

Pulaski

Clarke

Bla

ck

Be

ar

Pro

pe

rty

Da

ma

ge

by

VA

Co

un

ty

Kayle Severin

Number of IncidentsProperty

PROPERTY

1

2

3

Counties

0 25 50 75 10012.5

Miles

Birdfeeder Damage

Bath

CarrollSmyth

Fauquier

Albemarle

TazewellCampbell

Charlotte

Buchanan

Pulaski

Warren

Clarke

Greene

Lancaster

Bla

ck

Be

ar

Da

mag

e b

y V

A C

ou

nty

Bir

dfe

ed

ers

Kayle Severin

Number of IncidentsBirdfeeders

BIRDFEEDER

1

2

3

14

61

Counties

0 25 50 75 10012.5

Miles

Crop Damage

Albemarle

Greene

Bla

ck

Be

ar

Da

mag

e b

y V

irg

inia

Co

un

ty -

Cro

ps

Kayle Severin

Number of Incidents

1

Counties

0 25 50 75 10012.5

Miles

Livestock Damage

Carroll

Wise

Fauquier

Albemarle

Giles

Tazewell

Bla

ck

Be

ar

Da

mag

e b

y V

A C

ou

nty

- L

ive

sto

ck

Kayle Severin

Number of IncidentsLivestock

LIVESTOCK

1

6

Counties

0 25 50 75 10012.5

Miles

Livestock Feed Damage

Albemarle

TazewellCampbell

Clarke

Greene

Bla

ck

Be

ar

Da

mag

e b

y V

irg

inia

Co

un

ty -

Fe

ed

Kayle Severin

Number of IncidentsFeed

FEED

1

2

4

Counties

0 25 50 75 10012.5

Miles

Other Damage

CarrollSmyth

Bland Dinwiddie

Albemarle

Giles

TazewellCampbellBuchanan

Pulaski

Bla

ck

Be

ar

Da

mag

e b

y V

irg

inia

Co

un

ty -

Oth

er

Kayle Severin

Number of IncidentsOther

OTHER_1

1

3

5

Counties

0 25 50 75 10012.5

Miles

Multiple Incidents

Bath

Wythe

CarrollSmyth

Dinwiddie

Fauquier

Albemarle

Giles

TazewellCampbell

Grayson

Buchanan

Greene

Bla

ck

Be

ar

Da

mag

e b

y V

A C

ou

nty

- M

ult

iple

Kayle Severin

Number of IncidentsMultiple

MULTIPLE

1

2

3

6

17

44

Counties

0 25 50 75 10012.5

Miles

Black Bear Sightings with no Damage

Smyth

DinwiddieWise

Fauquier

Hanover

Campbell

Orange

Pulaski

Fluvanna

Warren

Bla

ck

Be

ar

Sig

hti

ng

s b

y V

irg

inia

Co

un

ty

Kayle Severin

Number of IncidentsSightings

SIGHTINGS

1

2

3

5

Counties

0 25 50 75 10012.5

Miles

Relocation

DinwiddieTazewell

Bla

ck

Be

ar

Re

loc

ati

n b

y V

irg

inia

Co

un

ty

Kayle Severin

Number of IncidentsRelocate

TRANQUILIZ

1

Counties

0 25 50 75 10012.5

Miles

Kill Permits Issued

Albemarle

Bla

ck

Be

ar

Eu

tha

na

sia

by

Vir

gin

ia C

ou

nty

Kayle Severin

Number of Incidents

EUTHANIZE

13

Counties

0 25 50 75 10012.5

Miles

Analysis

Simple chloropleth maps Import data as .dbf table Join damage info with VDGIF

county table Join combined tables to county

shapefile

Analysis 2

Create new layers for various types of incidents

Select by attribute for each element and export selected features

Convert each new layer into individual chloropleth map based on number of incidents

Conclusions – Recommended Solution Stringent monitoring and

increased resources for counties with significant damage incidents

Include educational materials and trained personnel

Conclusions - Counties

SIGNIFICANT ACTIVITY Albemarle – 233 incidents Tazewell – 61 incidents Campbell – 42 incidents LOWER ACTIVITY Clarke, Page, Madison, Lancaster,

Bath, Giles, Pulaski, Wythe, Carroll, Grayson, Buchanan, Wise, and Lee

Conclusion - Problems

Problems importing tables Geodatabase would not work Editing tools would not work Data problems - confusing

Conclusion - Changes

More detailed map – topology

Include surrounding cities

Future Suggestions

Compare county population vs. number of incidents

Potential population growth Types of land use – i.e. farming

vs. urban Pinpoint more precise location

within counties for each incident Use more years in data

References

Jamie Sajecki – Black Bear Project Leader, Wildlife Division, Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries

Dr. Michael Vaughan, professor of Wildlife Sciences, Virginia Tech,

GISTutorial