Spatiotemporal effects of nuisance black bear management actions in Wisconsin

American black bears (Ursus americanus) triggered complaints from property owners across much of Wisconsin, USA, from 2008 to 2010. Wildlife managers provided technical assistance and live-trapped bears to mitigate nuisances. We examined the longevity of these management actions as measured by the risk (or hazard) that a conflict site would generate a subsequent complaint after live-trapping or technical assistance had been implemented. We observed that as one expanded outward in distance from the original complaint site, the number of days separating a management action and a subsequent complaint decreased. Additionally, the number of bears that were translocated from a conflict location was not associated with decreased hazard. The percentages of locations that did not have a subsequent complaint were nearly identical for both technical assistance and live-trapping interventions. Our technique is a practical one, which could be used to analyze existing agency records. Also, our results could improve the benefit cost calculations of agencies contemplating new or modified nuisance-response protocols for this bear species and perhaps others.