10/25/2025
Arkansas’s Bear Comeback: The Last 100 Years:
From near extinction to rapid regrowth, black bears have made a remarkable return in Arkansas:
- 1927: Bear hunting was banned statewide to protect the dwindling population.
- 1950s: Fewer than 50 bears estimated remained.
- 1958–1968: 254 bears were reintroduced from Minnesota and Canada.
- 1980: Regulated bear hunting resumed.
- 2000s–2020s: Populations surged across the Ozarks and Ouachitas, prompting increase tags during annual hunting seasons.
- 2025: Southeast Arkansas now sees about 4% annual growth, with other areas as high as 8%. The current population is estimated between 5,000 to 8,000 bears.
Bear numbers have surged so rapidly that neighboring states like Missouri and Oklahoma—once with lower bear populations —have now approved regulated hunts to help manage the expanding population.
