text: Dubuque residents encouraged to secure garbage, remove pet food and bird feeders to avoid encountering wandering black bear - DNR News Releases
  Bears are omnivores and their diet changes with the seasons. In the spring, bears emerge from their winter dens hungry and willing to take advantage of whatever food is available. In Dubuque, the bear has zeroed in on seed, pet food and garbage.
  "To encourage it to move along, people in the area need to remove the easy meals - put away bird seed, put away barbeque drip pans, and keep pet food and garbage in places bears can't access," said Curt Kemmerer, wildlife biologist with the Iowa DNR. "Once the food is gone, the bear will move on to natural food sources out of town as the green up occurs."
  Bears have become more frequent visitors to Iowa. Since 2002, there have been 46 confirmed black bears in Iowa, and two to five per year since 2014. Based on physical characteristics, wildlife experts believe this is the same bear that was in Dubuque last spring.
  "We want to give this bear a chance to move along by removing the food incentives for it to stay," Kemmerer said. "The situation remains fluid and our approach depends upon the behavior of the bear. That could change if human safety becomes an issue."
  As bears have become more of a regular visitor, the chance to encounter a bear, although small, is a possibility. If someone encounters a bear, he said they should avoid running away.
  "Instead, back away slowly and cautiously while facing it. Make noise so they know you're there," he said
  There are a number of resources available to help people minimize conflict with bears, Kemmerer said, including www.bearwise.org.
  In addition to securing pet food, seeds and trash, Dubuque residents can help monitor the bear by sending locations of bear sightings to Kemmerer at curt.kemmerer@dnr.iowa.gov.
  While much of Iowa does not have the habitat necessary to support a black bear population, certain locations do, primarily northeast, eastern and southern parts of the state. As black bear populations in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Missouri are stable-to increasing, it is possible that a small population could set up residence in Iowa.
  "Within the next three to five years, I think we can expect to see cubs show up and a small breeding population become established. If that occurs, we should look to our neighbors in Wisconsin and Minnesota who have learned to live with bears," said Vince Evelsizer, furbearer and wetland wildlife research biologist with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR). "It won't be perfect and there will be bumps along the way, but we need to start having the conversation about the idea of bears coming back to Iowa, at least in certain places along the Mississippi River and Northeast Iowa where suitable habitat exists."