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This story is part of The State of Science, a series featuring science stories from public media journalists across the United States. It features reporting by Cassandra Stephenson, a Report for America corps member at The Tennessee Lookout.
Living with black bears is complicated. They’re huge, hungry, and they really don’t care about your hostas. After a long period of being overhunted, black bears are on the rebound. And as they begin returning to parts of their native ranges, they’re finding humans there, too.
Reporter Cassandra Stephenson joins Flora to talk about how these interactions are playing out in southeastern states. Then, carnivore ecologist Nyeema Harris joins to discuss best practices for coexistence.
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Segment Guests
Cassandra Stephenson
Cassandra Stephenson covers issues impacting rural West Tennessee as a Report for America corps member at The Tennessee Lookout. She’s based in Nashville.
Nyeema Harris
Dr. Nyeema Harris is an associate professor of wildlife and land conservation at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.
Segment Transcript
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