Description:

This special presentation, featuring Ali Davis from the Virginia Department of Wildlife, covers basic bear biology and bear behaviors. We’ll also talk about bear management in Virginia and living with black bears, and how to better manage human-wildlife conflicts. Since it is relevant to our area, this presentation will additionally cover the presence of mange in the region’s black bear populations.

Bio:

Ali is a District Wildlife Biologist with the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR) covering Botetourt, Bedford, Roanoke, Franklin, Patrick, Henry, and Pittsylvania counties. She started out with DWR in 2018 as the region’s Nuisance Bear Coordinator and became a District Wildlife Biologist in the Spring of 2021. Some of the main duties of a district biologist are to assist the public with human-wildlife conflict resolution, manage wildlife habitat, conduct research and surveys, and connect people to Virginia’s outdoors. Ali has a lot of experience helping constituents manage human-bear conflicts and is looking forward to sharing some tips and tricks on how to avoid conflict on your property.

Ali graduated from Virginia Tech where she received a B.S. in both Wildlife Conservation and Forestry. She fell in love with mountains of Virginia while attending VT and now resides on a small farm in Botetourt County with her family, dogs, and chickens. 😊