BEAR NECESSITIES
A Florida Black Bear's Quest for Home
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When the bear who would come to be known as M34 was captured and radio-collared in 2009, the biologists who would study his movements could not have predicted how his journey would come to impact the future of conservation in Florida.
Here is M34's story.
OCTOBER 2009
The bear was two and half years old when he was first captured in a small nature reserve outside of Sebring, Florida, not far from the famous Sebring Raceway.
The day was already sweltering on the sandhill at 8:45 AM when biologists arrived to check their bear traps, which had been set the night prior. Finding a bear had been caught, the University of Kentucky capture team worked quickly to sedate the animal and remove him from their trap.
Working together but in silence the biologists carried the sleeping bear from the trap into the nearest shade, where he was carefully laid on a waiting tarpaulin.
One worker checked temperature and breathing, and made note of the bear’s sex and body condition.
The team packed ice around the bear to keep him cool in the heat.
Working quickly, the capture team set about collecting blood and tissue samples and recording body measurements. He weighed 140 pounds, normal for a subadult bear.
Another worker bent over the bear’s head, carefully fitting the belt of a white GPS tracking collar on the bear’s neck. Given his size, the team decided a small collar programmed to fall off in 9 months would be a good fit.
They could track his movements hourly using the GPS-enabeled collar.
The collar was outfitted with:
- A satellite transmitter for collecting accurate location data.
- A very high frequency (VHF) radio beacon emitting a pulse to allow traditional tracking with telemetry equipment.
- A GSM SIM card and antenna for transmitting its information to the biologists over the cellular network.
M34's collar was programmed to spend the next nine months transmitting bundles of location data to the researchers via hundreds of text messages.
M34 crossed the 106,000 acre Avon Park Air Force Range in a matter of hours, passing through longleaf pine, Florida scrub, and dry seasonal wetlands.
M34 lingered along the shore of Lake Kissimmee for a week before swimming across the lower portion of the lake, changing direction and heading southwest.
In 2009, Joseph Guthrie was a part of the University of Kentucky capture team. Today, he's the Predator-Prey Program Director at Archbold Biological Station. Keep an eye out for his videos throughout this story where he shares reflections on M34 and his journey.
A CLOSER LOOK
After moving west along the northern boundary of the bombing range, M34 stumbled into the town of Frostproof. He decided the easiest route was swimming along the shore of Reedy Lake.
Joe describes M34s swim across Reedy Lake.
Joe describes his experience hiking this landscape.
A CLOSER LOOK
Peering out from the tiny woodlot outside the Celebration Hospital, M34 contemplated a howling wall of concrete and traffic. Behind him was the elevated road he’d just crossed beneath – the Hwy 417 toll road - and Interstate 4.
To the north were more lights than he’d ever seen in his life.
FAST FORWARD
Today, even the tiny woodlot that offered M34 temporary refuge is gone (swipe to compare).
IF M34 CROSSED I-4, WHAT WOULD HE FIND?
According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission historically Florida black bears likely ranged across all of mainland Florida and the upper Keys.
Looking at the current range map, many areas south of I-4 have only occasional or rare bear occurrences.
Northern Florida has large swaths of habitat ideal for black bears. The areas of frequent black bear occurrence correspond with large conserved areas including the Ocala National Forest , the Osceola National Forest , and the Apalachicola National Forest .
At last, on June 7th, M34 gave up on finding his way across I-4.
Joe discusses M34s attempt to cross Interstate 4.
He made his way to the narrow strand of trees lining the marshes of the Kissimmee River.
The massive expanse of freshwater marsh known as Lake Okeechobee was laid out in front of M34.
As dawn broke over Lake Okeechobee on June 24th M34 finally reached Fisheating Creek. The famous Herbert Hoover Dike served as his route west along the Creek.
At this point he entered the remaining stronghold for the Highlands-Glades bear population of his birth.
M34 had come hundreds of miles just to end up there, roughly 30 straight-line miles south of his stepping-off point near Sebring.
Joe's final thoughts
Though the rest of his story remains a mystery, M34’s amazing journey led him to a place where he had the chance to live his life among other bears and, with luck, eventually reproduce. This instinct for survival is what powered his long, searching walk.
By the end of his two-month trek, M34 demonstrated astounding mobility and instinct for survival, all the while providing evidence of the landscape’s fragile connectedness.
The GPS data bore testament to the fact that the landscape did, in fact, hold potential for dispersal by wide-ranging wildlife.
M34’s journey became a crucial piece of evidence just at the point when National Geographic photographer Carlton Ward, Jr., Tom Hoctor of the University of Florida, and Richard Hilsenbeck of The Nature Conservancy were taking the first steps to unveil the Florida Wildlife Corridor vision.
THE FLORIDA WILDLIFE CORRIDOR
Inspired by M34's movements, over the last decade Carlton Ward, Jr., Joseph Guthrie, and Mallory Lykes-Dimmit set out on a series of expeditions to share the concept and vision of the Florida Wildlife Corridor.
The Last Green Thread expedition trailer
In 2021, the Florida Wildlife Corridor Act formally recognized the geography of the Florida Wildlife Corridor.
In the words of National Geographic magazine's founding editor, Gilbert H. Grovsner:
A map is the greatest of all epic poems. Its lines and colors show the realization of great dreams.
The realization of the Florida Wildlife Corridor dream is due in no small part to M34, the young Florida black bear that set out on a journey to find his home, and in doing so, inspired a movement to protect wild Florida.
The current Florida Wildlife Corridor map and M34's journey
Visit the Florida Wildlife Corridor Foundation website to learn more about M34.
