The Louisiana black bear, the inspiration for the iconic stuffed animal named after President Theodore Roosevelt, got some good news Wednesday when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said it is no longer in danger of extinction during the next 100 years.
State and federal officials said the process to remove the Louisiana black bear from the endangered species list has begun. Listed in 1992 as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, the announcement to delist the bear happened 10 years earlier than even the recovery plan for the bear anticipated.
Theodore Roosevelt IV, great-grandson of Teddy Roosevelt, also applauded the announcement that came from “one of the great hunting stories.” As the story goes, President Roosevelt was hunting in Mississippi. He wasn’t having any luck, so the guides found an old black bear and tied it to a tree, but Roosevelt refused to shoot it because it would be unsportsmanlike, according to the Theodore Roosevelt Association. A cartoon of the incident ran in the newspapers and someone got the idea to make a stuffed bear and call it a “Teddy bear,” with the president’s approval.
Steve Guertin, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service deputy director, said the three breeding populations in the initial listing are stable and there has been a fourth breeding population established in northeast Louisiana. In addition, there are three new breeding populations forming in Mississippi, he said.
As the number of bears grows, Guertin said, more habitats for the bears as well as corridors of land where the bears can intermingle have been established.
From The Advocate: https://theadvocate.com/news/12363484-123/louisiana-black-bear-of-teddy