2012 Forgotten Coast Black Bear Festival
Saturday October 6th, Sands Park, Carrabelle, FL
As fall begins to settle in the Big Bend, the Florida black bear begins foraging for winter. It’s a perfect time to celebrate this fascinating mammal.
The 4th Annual Forgotten Coast Black Bear Festival planning is in full swing and we want you to save the date! Be sure to mark your calendar for Oct. 6, 2012 and come out to Sands Park in Carrabelle to help us celebrate.
This year’s festival promises to be full of fun and learning. This family-oriented educational event is free and open to the public. It is dedicated to helping people understand and live in harmony with the Florida black bear. Enjoy educational presentations, tours into bear habitat, kid’s activities, food, music by King Cotton, arts and crafts and much, much more!
For more information call the festival coordinator, Allen Loyd at 727-823-3888.
Florida's Mother of Wildlife is gone, Betsy Knight of the Big Bend Wildlife Sanctuary died on February 17, 2012.
Thanks to all who made the 2011 Forgotten Coast Black Bear Festival a success!
2009 Event is a Success! - click here to read the article from Apalach/Carrabelle Times
The Forgotten Coast Black Bear Festival is a one-day, free educational event that is fun for all ages.
Festival highlights include:
- Live music and dance performances
- The Procession of the Species Parade at 1:00. Join in the celebration! Be creative! Plan to participate in your costume or mask with the Carrabelle Boys and Girls Club and Carrabelle CARES. (no pets and no motorized vehicles)
- Authors’ Corner
- Presentations by bear experts
- Demonstrations on how to retrofit trash cans and other ways residents can co-exist with bears
- A family activity pavilion
- A variety of vendors and exhibits will be on display.
Guided field trips to Tate’s Hell Forest are by bus and include a moderate hike to a site where biologists will provide participants with interactive lessons about bear biology, behavior and management.
Testimonials from the 2009 Forgotten Coast Black Bear Festival:
News Articles on the 2008 Forgotten Coast Black Bear Festival:
Tallahassee Democrat
Carrabelle & Apalachicola Times
Pictures from the 2008 Forgotten Coast Black Bear Festival
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Note: The "bear cape" is a replica of a Native American ceremonial garment.
2009 Forgotten Coast Black Bear Festival
The bear cubs came to Big Bend Wildlife Sanctuary, Inc. on February 3, 2009 weighing 2.0 and 2.5 lbs. There was a wildfire on a plantation near Lloyd on the Aucilla River. Florida Forestry had been called in to assist and one of the Forestry people was on a tractor plowing a line around the fire. His tractor started making a strange noise, so he stopped the tractor and turned it off to see if he could find something wrong. It was then he heard the baby bears screaming. The cubs were about 5 ft. in front of the tractor and he would have run over them had he not stopped. The wildfire was within six or seven feet of the cubs, so the Forestry Employee grabbed his phone, called FWC and received permission to take the cubs. The mother was never seen and probably left at her first whiff of the fire. Four days later, Forestry officials went back to the site of the den and it was nothing but ashes--powdery ashes.
