One is road kill. One male bear requires 50,000 acres or more of habitat to find enough food. Because Florida's fast human population growth has taken much of the bear's habitat, bears must now cross roads to gain adequate habitat. Tunnels will be placed where numbers of bears have been documented crossing the road or being killed. Experimental tunnels prove bears do use them and in increasing numbers each year.
Bears are smart.
Mother bears are teaching their cubs to use the tunnels. In South Florida, where tunnels and road fencing on either side of the tunnels have been provided for the endangered Florida panther, not a single panther road kill has occurred. The other two reasons that our bears are a threatened species are loss of habitat and fragmented habitat, both a result of Florida population growth. Inquiring about conservation measures that are not understood is an important aid in spreading an understanding of preservation of natural Florida to its citizens. The survival of wildlife in our state depends on an informed population prepared to make decisions and generate actions.