Bear Tooth Aging

Dear Wisconsin Bear Hunter,
The collection of teeth from hunter harvested bears is a very important part of our bear monitoring program. These teeth allow us to determine the age structure of the population, the age when females produce their first litter and the years in which they produced litters thereafter. Unfortunately, many registration stations have been unable to collect the teeth. We need you to help us obtain a larger sample.

To accomplish this we are asking successful hunters to collect the tooth themselves after harvesting their bear. This is easily done just after the bear has been tagged. Hunters should pull a bear tooth before registering the bear. Make sure you have the provided tooth envelope with you while hunting. Stations will be checking to make sure a tooth has been extracted. The tooth and envelope then should be handed over to the registration station. Hunters and registration stations need to tape the envelope shut in order to minimize the risk of losing the tooth during the handling process. Hunters submitting teeth will be notified of the bear's age shortly after the teeth have been processed. This usually takes 10-12 months. Registration stations will have extra tooth envelopes.

Pull one of the small teeth located immediately behind the large canine teeth. These are located on both sides of the top and bottom, but please pull from the top as these teeth give a more accurate age reading. Cut the gum around the base of the tooth and then loosen it by gently prying upwards on the front of the tooth with a small screwdriver. Once the tooth is loose, pull it out with a pliers. Make sure you get the whole root out! We cannot age your bear accurately unless we have the whole root to look at. Pulling this tooth will not affect the trophy value of the bear.

Place the tooth in the envelope provided and fill in all of the information on the outside. Please print clearly, so we are able to send you the age of your bear. The tooth envelope should be given to the registration station when you register your bear.

Also, it is legal to shoot ear tagged bears! With USDA-APHIS-Wildlife Services we are ear-tagging bears caught on nuisance/damage complaints, during winter dens surveys and with other research projects to obtain another estimate of bear populations. If you shoot one of these ear-tagged bears please notify us by calling USDA-APHIS-Wildlife Services at 1-800-228-1368. Also, please write the ear-tag numbers and color down on the back of the bear registration stub. It is very important that all harvested ear-tagged bears are reported. Thank you for your cooperation and good luck hunting.

Helpful Information

• Which Bear Tooth To Pull?
• Bear Tooth Photo
• Bear Tooth Cross-Section

Questions for Wildlife Management