NATCHEZ — There is an estimated population of 120 black bears in Mississippi — and some are living close to home.

Brad Young, the Black Bear Program leader for the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, gave a lecture at Historic Jefferson College Thursday on black bears in Mississippi. Young explained in his lecture that population numbers for black bears in the state has increased the last few years.

“It may not seem like many (to have 120 black bears), but the population has actually tripled in the last five years, so that aspect is significant,” Young said.

Young also said there are black bears living between Annas Bottom Road and the edge of town, something HJC Branch Director Robin Person said she finds fascinating.

“We still can’t quite figure out why they hibernate as long as they do here, because our winters are shorter,” Person said.

One of the reasons for the lecture was to help educate people in hopes that they might not be afraid of black bears, Young said.

“People are afraid of what they don’t understand,” he said. “When you say ‘bear,’ people think of teeth and claws and snatching children in the night.

“What they don’t understand is, when you’re dealing with black bears, you’re basically dealing with a big raccoon.”

The MDWFP tries to get hands-on with black bears in hopes of learning more about them. After trapping a bear, department officials will tranquilize the bear and pull a tooth out to estimate its age.

“It’s like a tree, where you count the rings after you saw it in half,” Young said. “With bears, you count the rings inside the tooth to see how many winters they’ve been through. They can live up to 25 years.”

Officials will also tag the bear with ear tags and/or a small microchip implanted in the bear’s skin. Bears will also be fitted with a GPS collar that allows the MDWFP to track a bear’s movement.

In addition to research, health concerns are also a reason to track bear movements.

“We had one instance where a bear got trapped in a hog trap, and tried to bite its way out,” Young said. “Its teeth were all messed up. That’s why hog traps have to be open at the top.”

Natchez resident Walter Harrison attended the lecture Thursday, and said he came because he was curious.

“I’ve been to Alaska five times, and they’ll tell you, if a Grizzly bear charges you, it’s out of curiosity,” Harrison said. “If a black bear charges you, you’re lunch.

“(Young) told me the black bears in Alaska are a different type of black bear than the ones in Mississippi, though.”

In fact, Young said Mississippi black bears aren’t known for attacking people.

“There has never been a case of a bear attacking a human in Mississippi,” Young said.

Young said there are currently 37 bears collared in Mississippi, and 14 cubs implanted with microchips since 2005. It is not legal to hunt a bear in Mississippi.