Gerald is the local black bear seen wandering around Duluth. He has been rummaging through trash and trying to find food due to the lack of vegetation and droughts. According to the New Humanitarian, the U.S. has seen a spike in bear sightings and conflicts during the summer.

According to Brad Rippey’s map from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Minnesota has had short-term and long-term effects from droughts; these have been anywhere from severe to exceptional droughts.

Photo by the U.S. Department of Agriculture

Minnesota is used to getting rain during the summer, but this summer was different. According to the National Centers for Environmental Information, this has been the seventh driest summer in Minnesota ever recorded.

Climate change increases the odds of us having longer and more severe droughts. The reason for this is, according to the Center for Climate Change and Energy Solutions, warmer temperatures increase evaporation — this, in turn, takes away surface water and dries out the soil.

Warmer temperatures also mean there is less snowfall in the winter causing Minnesota to not get nearly as much moisture as it has in past years.

Droughts have a big impact on agriculture, with the soil being dried out and there being no rain to water the crops, the vegetation that bears would normally eat is impacted.

According to the Get Bear Smart Society, up to 90% of a bear's diet is plants. Since Duluth’s vegetation is not doing well with the extreme drought throughout the summer, bears are having to look for other sources of food. This is what brings out bears like Gerald.

Gerald and other bears all over Minnesota have been forced to change their diets due to lack of vegetation causing them to come into residential areas for food. This is why Gerald has been coming out — he needs to find food in our community because the vegetation has been so low.

Gerald has been spotted in a few places around campus and other neighborhoods in Duluth. As tempting as it may be to try and help out our wildlife in Duluth, especially when they're struggling, the best thing we can do for animals like Gerald is to leave them be. Interacting with the wildlife will do more harm than good.

Try to keep your garbage closed, protect your gardens and don’t leave food out. These are just a few ways we as a community can help keep Gerald and all of his friends safe as they explore Duluth.

Gerald the Bear