A multi-decades long study of Maine's black bears indicates that the state's bear population is thriving. Bear hunting was suspended in 1980 because officials weren't sure if hutners were killing too many of the bruins.

But the study indicates that the state's bear population is now numbers about 23,000, and hunters aren't shooting as many bears as the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife would like, the Bangor Daily News reports.

Biologists trap and mark new bears for the study each spring. The males are tagged but the females are kept closer track of with radio collars, the paper reports. In the winter, biologists visit the females in their dens to check out how they and their cubs are faring.

The bear studies are conducted in northern Maine, west of Ashland, in Bradford, just outside of Old Town and in Down East Maine.