09/30/2026
🐻🍂 60 BEARS. LET THAT NUMBER SINK IN.
As we enter the heart of fall in the Smokies, there is another number we need to talk about.
According to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, 60 black bears have been humanely killed in Sevier County so far in 2026 following significant conflicts with people.
Statewide, the number is 61.
That means nearly every one of those reported deaths occurred right here in Sevier County.
And as millions of us come to enjoy the Smokies this fall, perhaps there is something we can do about what happens next.
🐻 HOW DOES A WILD BEAR BECOME A PROBLEM BEAR?
Often, it begins with food.
Not necessarily someone deliberately handing a bear a sandwich.
It can be an overflowing dumpster.
An unsecured trash bag outside a cabin.
Garbage left in the bed of a truck.
Pet food.
Birdseed.
Food scraps at a picnic area.
Or someone intentionally feeding a bear because they want a closer photograph.
Bears are incredibly intelligent.
When a bear repeatedly discovers that people = food, it can begin losing its natural fear of humans.
The behavior can escalate.
A bear may start approaching people, damaging property, breaking into vehicles or eventually entering an occupied building.
At that point, it can become a serious public-safety issue.
And sometimes the ending is one none of us wants.
💔 The bear pays the price.
TWRA says relocating these bears generally isn't the simple solution many people imagine. Moving the animal doesn't erase the behavior it has learned — or remove whatever attracted bears to that location in the first place.
🍂🐻 THIS FALL, LET'S BE BEAR AWARE.
✔️ Never intentionally feed a bear.
✔️ Secure your garbage — especially at cabins and vacation rentals.
✔️ Don't leave food, coolers or trash where bears can reach them.
✔️ Clean grills and don't leave food or grease outside.
✔️ Never use food to lure a bear closer for a photograph.
✔️ Give bears room. In Great Smoky Mountains National Park, stay at least 50 yards — 150 feet — away.
✔️ If you're watching from the road, pull completely into a designated pull-off. Don't create a traffic jam or approach the bear.
✔️ If your presence causes a bear to change what it's doing, you're too close.
🍁 FALL IS AN ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT TIME.
Right now, bears are in hyperphagia — an intense period of feeding as they prepare for winter.
A black bear may consume up to 20,000 calories in a single day during this period.
They're moving.
They're searching for food.
And we're entering one of the busiest and most beautiful times to visit the Smokies.
That combination makes OUR behavior especially important.
🐻 A FED BEAR DOESN'T UNDERSTAND THAT SOMEONE WAS “JUST TRYING TO HELP.”
It only learns where the food came from.
We can't control everything that happens to the bears of the Smokies.
But we CAN control whether our trash, our food and our behavior become part of the problem.
Enjoy them. Photograph them. Respect them.
But please help keep a wild bear WILD.
Because being Bear Aware isn't only about protecting ourselves.
🐻❤️ It's about protecting the bear, too.
— Smoky Mountains Road Guide
Sources: Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency; Great Smoky Mountains National Park. TWRA figures reported September 29, 2026.
