Thirty years ago, a pioneering black bear crossed the Rio Grande, made a home in Big Bend National Park, and successfully raised cubs—the first to be born in Texas since the early 1900s!  Texas’s black bear population has slowly grown ever since, expanding back into their historic habitat in the deserts of West Texas.  While most Texans welcome their return with open arms, bears can have impacts on agriculture that need to be better understood.  

Researchers at Borderlands Research Institute in Alpine, TX are embarking on unprecedented research to learn what our Texas bears are eating, how they survive, and how the public can successively live alongside them as Texas’s population continues to expand in the west.  Second Chance follows conservationists, researchers, and West Texas ranchers as they study, observe, and celebrate the incredible comeback of this magnificent animal.