Skip to Main Content

Bear

General Information

Guides to Keep Bears Wild

Bear Management

Bear Hunting

Additional Bear Information

Feeding Bears is Illegal in Virginia

Wildlife Managers don’t recommend feeding wildlife due to concerns surrounding disease transmission and habituation of wildlife to human foods. In Virginia, it is illegal to feed bears on both public and private lands. Bears attracted to residential areas or human dwellings due to feeding activities by people, whether deliberate or inadvertent (like bears eating from a birdfeeder or trash cans) can cause problems including the habituation of bears to people and serious property damage. Regretfully, bears that have lost their fear of people often have to be destroyed.