Black bears vanished from Texas by the mid-1900s and have only recolonized in the last few decades, moving north out of Mexico’s Sierra del Carmen into the Big Bend and Davis Mountains country. NatureServe still rates the species S1, Critically Imperiled, in Texas, even though it’s Least Concern globally, a reminder that a healthy world population can mask a fragile toehold in one state.
Big Bend National Park, Guadalupe Mountains National Park, and the Davis Mountains, the state’s most rugged, remote mountain terrain, account for most of the 550 records, which tracks both where the bears actually live and where hikers and researchers are looking for them. Sightings climb through spring and peak in May, then rise again in October and November, likely tied to bears moving more and feeding heavily before den season rather than one simple seasonal pattern. With 550 records the species lands in the common bucket for Texas mammal reports overall, but that’s a statewide ranking; within its actual range in the Trans-Pecos, a black bear sighting is still a genuinely notable event.
Full species profile
