He's certainly a chunky boy! A massive black bear just broke the Mississippi state record for the biggest of the species ever in the state. The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks encountered the animal as part of their research initiative. They trap and equip black bears with GPS-collars so they can track them.
That's when they encountered the big man himself.
"I knew he was big, but the biggest bear I've trapped since I took over (the Black Bear Program) was 384 pounds," said Anthony Ballard, MDWFP Black Bear Program coordinator. "So, using that as a reference point, it was hard to compare because you're dealing with 126 pounds difference."
So just how big is the animal? Well, the bear weighs 510 pounds. It's a massive size, but Ballard said that he didn't really focus or register the idea of the weight being record-breaking.
"In the moment, you can't soak it up," Ballard said. "After it was all over, you got time to look at him and it was like, 'Man, this is a big bear.'"
Massive Black Bear
Ironically, Ballard ended up trapping the bear in the same area where he trapped the biggest female black bear ever in the state. "She was 312 (pounds), which for a sow is pretty big," Ballard said.
It's actually not the first time that the bear was caught. Back in 2022, he weighed only 360 pounds. So he's gained a good bit of pounds in the two years since. But it's helpful to know that bears weigh more in the winter than they do in the summer (when he was first caught). Black bears pack on the pounds for hibernation in winter.
