Virginia Bear Mange Study
Bear Basics
Black bears are native to Virginia and were widespread and plentiful across the Commonwealth when Jamestown was settled in 1607. By 1900, changes in habitat and over-harvest for food and hides nearly extirpated bears from the Virginia landscape. Following habitat protections and the implementation of harvest regulations, remnant populations from the Appalachian Mountains and Dismal Swamp have since recolonized bears across the state, making them one of Virginia’s greatest conservation success stories. Today, black bears can be found across most of the state, with higher populations found along the Appalachian Mountains and in southeastern Virginia near Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge.
Figure 1: Current black bear range in Virginia, 2025.
Female bears (often referred to as sows) range in size from an average of 150-250lbs at maturity. Males (often called boars) generally average a bit larger, from 200-350lbs. Habitat conditions and age are important factors that determine bear size, with some bears in very productive habitats easily topping the scales at over 500lbs. The largest bear ever recorded in Virginia weighed 740lbs! Bears can have a fairly long lifespan, with the oldest bear in Virginia (based on age at time of harvest) being 31 years old. Black bears generally begin breeding by 3.5 years of age and produce cubs only every other year. The average litter size for bears in Virginia is 2, although litters of 3 or 4 are not uncommon in some areas. Cubs are born in dens generally in early January through early February. Female bears provide extensive care for their young, often keeping their cubs with them for up to 16 months.
In Virginia, black bears do not hibernate due to the lack of extremely cold temperatures and available food resources. Female bears that will give birth to cubs will enter a den, typically between early November to mid-December, and remain in the den with their newborn cubs until mid-April. Non-reproductive females and most males can remain active throughout the winter, although will typically limit their movements. These bears may den for short periods during harsh weather or if food sources become extremely limited. Den sites in Virginia can range from hollow trees, ground nests, brush piles, or thickets such as rhododendron and mountain laurel.
Black bears are omnivorous and opportunistic feeders that feed on both plant and animal matter. In general, black bear diets mostly consist of vegetative matter including berries and fruits (soft mast), nuts and acorns (hard mast), grasses, fungi, and broad leaf vegetation. Common animal matter in bear’s diets includes insects, insect larva, carrion, and can include whitetail deer fawns during the fawning season. A bear’s diet often changes based on local habitat conditions as well as seasonally due to food availability.
Black bears in Virginia have been a game species (hunted) since the mid-1930's. Virginia continues to allow the regulated hunting of bear across the state with season structures dependent on population objectives. Regulated hunting is used as the primary population management tool for bears in Virginia, as well as providing recreational opportunity to many.
To learn more about black bears in Virginia, visit the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources bear website or check out the 2023-2032 Bear Management Plan .
Mange in Black Bears
While bears, like many other mammals, are susceptible to several types of mange, sarcoptic mange is currently of most concern in Virginia. Sarcoptic mange is a highly contagious skin disease caused by the microscopic skin burrowing mite Sarcoptes scabiei. This species of mite causes sarcoptic mange in a wide variety of hosts, including scabies in humans, and has several host-adapted variants (e.g. canis, hominis, suis, etc.) To date studies indicate that Sarcoptes mites from Virginia bears are a canid variety genetically similar to mites affecting bears in other states such as West Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania.
Reports of mange in black bears began in 2014, with sporadic reports through 2017 in the northwestern mountain counties of Frederick, Clarke, and Shenandoah. By 2018, reports began to expand geographically to include a ten-county area in the northern Shenandoah Valley. Following extensive outreach efforts, reports have continued to increase each year and expand geographically to now encompass 28 counties in 2025 (Figure 2). Severity of symptoms varies widely and may depend on the bear’s condition prior to an infestation, available food resources and habitat conditions, and time of year. Cases can range from mild, with minimal hair loss, minimal skin crusting, and good body condition, to severe with significant hair loss, thickened or crusty skin often with open wounds, and an emaciated body condition.
Although mange can be a cause of mortality in black bears, there has been no clear evidence from other states with longer histories with mange that the disease limits populations over the long-term. However, localized population declines have been observed recently in some mange-affected areas of Virginia, particularly in counties with historical liberal harvest seasons. A multitude of factors including increased harvest seasons to meet population objectives, successive years of poor mast production (primarily red and white oaks), and increased winter temperatures, in conjunction with mange, have likely contributed to declining trends in several bear management zones.
For more information on mange in black bears, visit the DWR's bear mange website.
Figure 2: Current counties in Virginia with positive mange cases.
To report a bear (or other wild animal) that you suspect has mange, please contact the Virginia Wildlife Conflict Helpline (1-855-571-9003 or vawildlifeconflict@usda.gov). Pictures or video of the affected animal are extremely helpful. Information submitted to the Wildlife Conflict Helpline helps DWR track the distribution of disease and is not intended to provide an emergency response to a reported mange bear.
Get Involved
Bear management in Virginia is a shared responsibility with private citizens, businesses, local governments, partner agencies, and the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources.
To get involved there are several key things you can do:
Visit the DWR Bear Website and the BearWise® Website to learn more about black bears.
Never feed bears!
In Virginia it is illegal to feed bears on both private and public lands. Bears attracted to residential areas or human dwellings due to feeding activities by people, whether deliberate or inadvertent (like bears eating from a birdfeeder or trash cans) can cause problems including the habituation of bears to people. The congregation of bears at a food site can also increase disease transmission through direct contact or indirect contact with a contaminated site.
Report wildlife conflicts and disease reports to the Virginia Wildlife Conflict Helpline (1-855-571-9003)