Black Bears Were Wiped Out. Now They’re Walking Into Kitchens.

They Were Never Supposed to Be Here. 🔔 Subscribe to Invasive America for new wildlife investigations every week. 💬 Have you ever seen a black bear somewhere you didn't expect one? Tell us in the comments. ⏱ CHAPTERS 0:00 Intro 2:36 #7 Ohio 4:46 #6 Louisiana 8:00 #5 Missouri 10:00 #4 Arkansas 12:42 #3 Florida 15:28 #2 New Jersey 17:19 #1 Connecticut 19:42 Pennsylvania: the mite 22:53 Look back 📚 SOURCES Connecticut DEEP — black bear sightings and home entries (via CT Mirror, NHPR) U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service — Louisiana black bear recovery and delisting (2016) LSU AgCenter — Louisiana bear relocation, Red River WMA (2001) Missouri Department of Conservation — Annual Black Bear Report 2025 University of Arkansas Extension / U.S. Geological Survey — Arkansas bear restoration 1958–1968 Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) / USFWS — Florida black bear population; WGCU — 2015 and 2025 hunts New Jersey DEP (via WHYY) — New Jersey black bear population Pennsylvania Game Commission / Penn State — sarcoptic mange in black bears CDC Public Health Image Library — Sarcoptes scabiei (PHIL 6301) 📷 FOOTAGE & PHOTO CREDITS (CC BY) iNaturalist: mattyfelp, milkweed_mapper, kszafrajda, eraskin, eikenella, patrickcomins, caracalshan (CC BY) Wikimedia Commons: Trish Hartmann (CC BY 2.0), rampartgeneral (CC BY 2.0), Grand Canyon National Park (CC BY 2.0), Servier Medical Art (CC BY) Public domain: NPS (Shenandoah, Yellowstone, Glacier, Great Smoky Mountains, Ozark), USFWS, USGS, CDC / WHO, Library of Congress (Clifford Berryman, 1902; Carol M. Highsmith). Other footage: Pixabay, CC0. Music: "Dark Walk" — Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), CC BY 4.0 · "Cylinder Five" — Chris Zabriskie (chriszabriskie.com), CC BY 4.0 · "Spring of Deception" — Density & Time. 🤖 Three scenes in this video are AI reconstructions and are labeled "AI RECONSTRUCTION" on screen: the bear at the glass door (0:10) and the bear with sarcoptic mange (20:43, 20:58). No real photo of a mange-affected bear was available under a free license. #BlackBears #BearSightings #WildlifeComeback #Wildlife #InvasiveAmerica