Latest news with #NCWRC
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
NC Wildlife Resources Commission offers tips to protect livestock from bears
RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCT) — The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission provides guidance to livestock owners on methods to protect their animals from becoming prey to black bears. Black bears tend to consume a mostly plant-based diet and are attracted to livestock feed, such as grains and corn. However, they are omnivores and opportunists and will feed on eggs, small livestock (such as chickens and rabbits) and larger animals (including goats, miniature ponies and alpacas). Raising livestock of any species in bear country requires BearWise® husbandry practices, even for small-scale, backyard operations. 'It's one of the most common calls about bears that we get and it's also one of the most preventable,' NCWRC BearWise Coordinator Ashley Hobbs said. 'Especially in the summer and fall months, I respond to many calls from the public reporting their goat herd or chicken flock have been completely wiped out by a bear. Unprotected coops and pens provide accessible food all in one convenient spot.' BearWise is an Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies program dedicated to helping people live responsibly with bears. It offers information and instruction on protecting chickens and helpful information for livestock owners and beekeepers. Proper husbandry practices are key to coexistence, and BearWise recommends the following proactive measures: Always store livestock feed and pet food away from the animals in a locked, bear-resistant shed or building, or in a bear-resistant container. Place livestock pens and bee hives at least 50 yards away from wooded areas and other cover that could protect bears from view. Confine livestock in buildings and pens, especially during lambing or calving seasons. Consider bringing livestock, particularly smaller animals, inside at night. Remove carcasses from the site and dispose of them by rendering or deep burial. Install electric fencing or own a guard animal. To learn more about safely raising livestock in bear country, please visit and contact NCWRC's Wildlife Helpline for assistance at 866-318-2401, Monday-Friday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Invasive bass species spreads from western North Carolina to Piedmont Triad
RALEIGH, N.C. (WGHP) — A bass species that's invasive to North Carolina is spreading in our lakes and rivers and competing with our native fish, according to the NC Wildlife Resources Commission. Biologists with the NCWRC are asking the public for help to prevent the spread of Alabama bass to protect the future of native largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass in NC. As of April, they have been reported in Belews Lake, the Dan River and Salem Lake. 'They're being stocked and moved to new locations by anglers who need to understand the impact it's having to our native black bass family of largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass,' District Biologist Kin Hodges said. 'Populations of largemouth bass are being dramatically reduced, while North Carolina could potentially lose smallmouth and spotted bass.' Alabama bass have been known to exist in NC waters since the 1980s, but only sparsely. They were first found in far southwestern Lake Chatuge and then Lake Norman. They are believed to have been stocked by anglers. Routine fisheries surveys conducted by NCWRC biologists have documented the spread of Alabama bass over the last 20 years in NC reservoirs and rivers. Their distribution has rapidly grown and spread, and they are now being identified in coastal areas, including the Roanoke River and Tar River. 'When we heard Alabama bass were being caught in reservoirs upstream of our coastal rivers in 2020, we anticipated we would start seeing them downstream,' Coastal Region Fisheries Research Coordinator Kevin Dockendorf said. 'In October 2024, our fisheries biologists collected Alabama bass in the Roanoke and Tar rivers with boat electrofishing. This expansion of Alabama bass is of concern given the similarities of NC's coastal rivers to the habitats found in Alabama bass's natural range.' While fishing for Alabama bass is popular with some anglers, NCWRC staff say many are unaware of the threats they pose and are continuing to move the species into new waters. 'They are being illegally spread across the state by misguided anglers who think that they will make the fishing better,' Hodges said. 'The only tools we have to minimize the damage being caused by Alabama bass are to encourage anglers not to spread them to new waters and to harvest as many as possible in waters where they have already been introduced to minimize their damage.' It is to move or stock fish into public waters without a stocking permit from the NCWRC. This includes live well releases into waters different from where the fish were caught. If you know about any Alabama bass stockings, you're asked to report them by calling 800-662-7137. Anyone who catches one in a body of water not previously documented is asked to take a picture and report it through the NC Wildlife Aquatic Nuisance Species Reporting Tool or by emailing . Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
