Harvest rates and cause-specific mortality of American black bears in the wildland–urban interface of the Mid-Atlantic region, USA

There is a salient belief that bears (Ursidae) using the wildland-urban interface (WUI) are not vulnerable to harvest, and therefore, hunting is an ineffective management tool for bears in the WUI of the eastern United States; however, this question remains untested. We fit and monitored 116 American black bears (Ursus americanus; hereafter, black bear) with Global Positioning System-Global System for Mobile Communications collars in 9 municipalities in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, USA, during 2010-2013 to determine (1) whether bears in the WUI were vulnerable to harvest; (2) if so, at what rates are they harvested; and (3) what are other cause-specific mortalities in the WUI. Harvest mortality did occur on the monitored bears in the WUI during our study. Harvest mortality rates were lower than statewide tag-return harvest rates from New Jersey and higher 3 of 4 years in Pennsylvania. The proportion of bears that was harvested was similar for juvenile males (30%), adult males (36%), and adult females (29%). Annual survival was variable (range = 40-92%), but was similar among adult males and females. Euthanasia accounted for 8-19% of the total mortality in New Jersey and West Virginia but only 3% in Pennsylvania. Black bears in the WUI were vulnerable to harvest; therefore, we consider regulated harvest to be a viable management tool. Agencies may prefer that hunters act as a compensatory mortality mechanism by harvesting problem bears that would otherwise be euthanized or killed in bear-vehicle collisions.