Smokies black bears, wild hogs have fewer acorns to eat
Park biologists say they were right in their predictions that last year’s large mast crop, especially in terms of white oak acorns, would produce large numbers of piglets and bear cubs this year.
So far this year, the park’s hog hunters have shot or trapped 224 wild hogs — 127 from North Carolina and 97 from Tennessee. That compares with 136 hogs eliminated by this time last year.
“We were seeing large gangs of hogs — two or three sows with 12 or 15 piglets,” said Bill Stiver, wildlife biologist for the Smokies. “That’s a direct result of last year’s mast crop.”
Like the wild hogs, the park’s black bears had high reproduction last winter because of the abundant crop in 2004, he said. The Smokies are home to an estimated 1,500 black bears.
This year’s crop, however, is patchy. Park officials say that while red and white oaks are down from last year, hickory and walnuts are in ample supply. White oak acorns are the preferred food for a host of forest dwellers, including black bears and wild hogs.
Stiver said that the absence of white oak acorns in the park this fall does not necessarily mean low reproduction for wild hogs and black bears this winter.
“If the bears can find enough red oaks and hickories, they should be able to gain enough weight to reproduce well,” he said. “Just because we don’t have white oaks doesn’t mean we won’t have cubs.”