From: Times Picayune
"In 1992, the Louisiana black bear was listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The listing was justified by the loss of bear habitat and human-related mortality. It is estimated that 80 percent of the bear's bottomland forest habitat was destroyed by 1980. During the more than two decades that the bear was protected, more than 840,000 acres of suitable bear habitat were acquired, protected and or restored, according to Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries documents. The Louisiana bear population also rebounded to an estimated 700 animals."