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RALEIGH, N.C. (June 14, 2005) — The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission’s new documentary on black bears will make its broadcast premiere in South Carolina later this month.
The 30-minute documentary, The Bear Facts, The Story of a North Carolina Treasure, will be telecast on CBS affiliate WSPA-channel 7, Spartanburg, S.C., on June 25 at 1 p.m. The film features bear footage from the mountains and coastal plain. Mark Jones, the Wildlife Commission’s black bear biologist, wrote and directed the award-winning documentary, which features five segments: history and biology of black bears, research and monitoring, co-existing with bears, hunting traditions, and the future of black bears in the Carolinas. “This is an important documentary for South Carolinians because upstate South Carolina shares a bear population with the mountains of North Carolina, and there is a small coastal bear population near Myrtle Beach that is an extension of North Carolina’s large coastal population of bears,” Jones said. “Many bear-related issues that are important to North Carolinians, such as bears coming into contact with people in residential areas and bear hunting, will be of interest to our neighbors to the south.” Biologists from South and North Carolina work together in the Southern Appalachian Black Bear Study Group, which also has members from Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia. The study group shares data and experiences about bears to help member states effectively manage and conserve the Southeast’s largest land mammal. “Growth in bear populations and an increase in human development throughout much of the Southeast result in bears coming into increasing contact with people,” Jones said. “Most bear-human conflicts are the result of people allowing bears to eat garbage, bird food and pet food. This black bear documentary presents information about bear-human conflicts and other issues that should interest citizens in our neighboring states.” WSPA, which serves more than 800,000 households in South and North Carolina, can be seen in 10 of South Carolina’s western counties: Oconee, Pickens, Anderson, Abbeville, Greenville, Greenwood, Spartanburg, Laurens, Cherokee and Union. The black bear documentary took three years to produce. It originally aired on cable-access channel WRPX in Raleigh and Fayetteville in October 2004. Copies can be purchased on VHS or DVD through the Wildlife Commission’s WILD Store, (866) 945-3746. The documentary complements a bear brochure that Jones updates annually and distributes to the public through Wildlife Commission staff. For information on times when the documentary will air or to purchase the bear documentary, visit the Commission’s Wild Store. Additional information about black bears also is available here. |
