One black bear death reported in Smoky Mountain fires

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — One black bear was killed by the fires in Sevier County, the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency said Wednesday.

Matt Cameron, TWRA spokesman, wrote in an email that Sevier County Wildlife Officer David Sexton said the bear was found Friday below the Park Vista Hotel and taken to officials with the Great Smoky Mountains National Park who examined then disposed of it.

In addition, he said, TWRA had received a report of an orphaned cub, but TWRA was unable to locate it.

Cameron added that TWRA had "only had reports of a few bear sightings following the fires. Most appeared to be unharmed and on the move to unburned areas."

The wildfires, which officials have said were human-caused, left 14 people dead, more than 150 injured and more than 1,700 homes and businesses damaged or destroyed. Two teens were arrested Wednesday and faced charges in Sevier County of aggravated arson, officials said.

Dana Dodd of the Appalachian Bear Rescue, an organization dedicated to protecting bears in and around Great Smoky Mountains National Park, said earlier Wednesday that she has not heard of any bear deaths or injuries as a result of the wildfires.

“We do not pretend that there are none injured — that would probably be a stretch,” Dodd said. “There are probably some that didn’t make it: the weakest, sickest, least able to get around.”

She said that as more people who left during the firestorm that hit the evening of Nov. 28 return to the area, there is a good chance more sightings will occur.

That said, Dodd is encouraged by what she has seen and heard so far.

“Animals have a strong sense of when things are wrong, and it is their instinct to get away from it. They know their warning signals and were probably out of there well before it was too late," she said.

She said Bear Rescue late last year and earlier this year had collared 43 cubs with GPS devices.

“We did have a good number of them who were monitored and they were moving safely away,” she said. “We have the collar data that indicates they are still moving and still fine.”

She said Smoky Mountains bears do not hibernate in the traditional sense “but they do slow down a lot. Mothers will likely stay in the den while the male bears go out hunting.

“The collared bears have not denned yet,” she said. “We know it is just a couple weeks away.”

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