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Monitoring Grizzly Bear Populations Using DNA
The Greater Glacier Area Bear DNA Project
From the Greater Glacier Area Bear DNA Project web site:
It is now possible to identify species, individuals, and gender with bear DNA samples from hair and scats. With appropriate design, sign surveys can be used to obtain an unambiguous minimum count and population index. Bear population density and sex ratio can be estimated from hair collected systematically at hair trap sites. The amount of genetic variation within the population can be described with materials from both sampling designs.
The minimum number of individual grizzly bears that have been identified so far is 212. The estimated population for the Glacier study area is 437. After data from work in 2000 are analyzed, that number could go up or down. It is important to understand the number is only an estimate. However, the methods used to get the estimate are non-intrusive. In other words, bears do not have to be trapped, tranquilized, and fitted with radio collars to be counted. The collaring and following approach is still used extensively in Yellowstone.
The studies are being conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey. Kate Kendall is the principal investigator. Look for "Greater Glacier Area DNA Study" on my links page to learn more.
1998 was not a good year for grizzly bears in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem. In fact there were more grizzly bear mortalities in the ecosystem than in any previous year--27 known grizzly bear mortalities. At least 20 of those were known human-caused grizzly bear mortalities--some of the others may be human-caused. 1999 proved to be another lethal year for grizzlies--at least 17 known grizzlies killed. By early to mid June 2000, at least nine grizzlies had been shot and killed. On November 28, 2000, I was told by a wildlife consultant that 17 grizzlies had been killed or removed from the NCDE.
The Daily Interlake reported the following on December 2, 2001:
The ecosystem's mortality limits have been exceeded over the last five years, including this year, with Servheen reporting a total of 19 human-caused grizzly deaths."
Servheen is Chris Servheen, The Grizzly Bear Recovery Coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
A black bear took this tent down at the Rising Sun Campground in Glacier on September 17, 1998. The next day the campground was closed and a bear trap brought in. The ranger working this bear said she did not believe the bear received a food reward. Therefore, the plan was to trap the bear and release it at the campground with rounds of rubber bullets, cracker shells, bean bags, and lots of screaming and yelling--the Karelian Bear Dogs were not available to participate in the aversive conditioning designed to make the experience one the bear will always remember, but would rather forget. Hopefully, this young black bear will survived to make it to the winter den and will have an easier time finding natural foods in the future.
The following is an excerpt from Brian Peck's story called "Trains, Grain and Grizzlies" printed in the Great Bear Foundation's publication, Bear News, (Volume 13, No. 1 '98):
In the late 80's and early 90's, a series of train
derailments along the Middle Fork of the Flathead River south of Glacier National Park
dumped over 100 carloads of grain (mostly corn) along the railroad tracks in prime bear
habitat. Rather than removing the millions of pounds of grain, Burlington Northern
(BN) chose the easier and cheaper route of burying it on-site with predictable results.
As the grain fermented, both black and grizzly bears flocked to the site, digging
down as much as 10 feet to reach the grain, and causing bear jams along Highway 2.
When GBF Board Member and bear expert, Chuck Jonkel, toured the site with U.S.
Forest Service representatives, he saw a bear emergency in the making, told USFS so, and
provided them with a list of 27 specific actions that were required immediately to avoid a
catastrophe. Two crucial months later, the list hadn't even been passed on to the
agency's "bear specialist," much less implemented. Worse yet, bears were
increasingly being killed on the tracks and nearby roads as they came to feed. Soon,
over a dozen grizzlies from this "threatened" population were dead with no end
in sight. Under constant pressure from GBF and the National Wildlife Federation's
legal staff, the agencies and BN began to "feel the heat and see the light,"
eventually bringing in specialized equipment (four years after the first spill) and
spending $1.5 million to remove the grain that was luring bears to their death. At
the time, Jonkel predicted that the failure to clean up the spill quickly would ultimately
result in the early deaths of maybe 60 bears as they continued to visit the site for years
to come. He may well be right. (END)
During the Labor Day weekend in 1999, I was at a Great Bear Foundation meeting outside
Kalispell, Montana. Tim Manley was there with his Bear Dogs to give a talk. He got a
call from a BN engineer who said he thought he had hit and killed two grizzly cubs on a
trestle. The location was not far from the Coram garbage disposal site where Tim had
recently captured the cubs' mother (see photos above).
Note: Here is a report from the NCDE Subcommittee meeting held on 11/29/2000
Trains and Bear Mortality: BNSF has replaced most of their old, leaky grain cars; currently set up to get spills of 50-100 lbs. and up; CPR has a vacuum truck that lets you get all piles, and they’ll be checking this out; problem of bears getting hit on trestles still unresolved.
The Wind River Bear Institute was founded by veteran bear biologist Carrie Hunt. The goal of WRBI is to "reduce human-bear conflicts and change how problem bears are handled worldwide." Karelian Bear Dogs are raised and trained at WRBI in Utah. Karelians are now used by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks bear management specialists and others to teach bears to stay away from human developments such as campgrounds, cabins, and other areas. Aversive conditioning techniques are used that involves things like rubber bullets and bean bag rounds fired at bears from shotguns, pepper spray, screaming and yelling, and Karelian Bear Dogs. Karelians are used to chase the bears, but only so far. The idea is for the bear to learn not to come looking for an easy meal from sources of human food and garbage. The program has shown a lot of promise in the short time since it began, 1996. However, it will ultimately be up to humans to properly manage food, garbage, livestock and pet food, bird feeders, and other attractants to prevent bears from having conflicts with humans and being killed as a result. Follow the link to "Wind River Bear Institute" on my "Links" page to learn more.
Tess-A Karelian Bear Dog
Grizzly Bear Family on Going to the Sun Road (A dangerous place to be)
I moved to Montana in 1981. That’s when I began
reading grizzly bear books, the first of which was Track of the Grizzly by Frank C. Craighead, Jr. (Read a brief
biography of this amazing man who died October 21, 2001 in Jackson, Wyoming). I went
to Glacier often and probably consider it my favorite place on Earth. On a summer
evening in 1983 I had my first encounter with a grizzly bear in that enchanted garden of
rock and ice. I was camping at Two Medicine Lake and hiked to Dawson Pass that day.
The trail follows the north shore of Two Medicine Lake and then climbs past No Name Lake
to the pass on the Continental Divide. I got back to the campground around 3:00 and
lazed around the rest of the afternoon.
The Scenic Point trailhead is near the entrance to the Two Medicine Campground. I
finally decided to take a little stroll and loosen up a bit. I started up the trail,
making a little noise as I went. After 200 yards or so, I heard a rustling kind of
sound. I stopped. About 30 feet in front of me and just off the left side of the
trail was a grizzly, sitting on his haunches and facing away from me. The bear
immediately got up and ran into the woods. As he ran through the the fading evening
light, he let out a tremendous roar. He was letting me know that he was allowing me
to intrude into his space, but he really did not have to be so accommodating. I'm
sorry to have disturbed him, but he made my day and influenced my life. I don’t have
a photograph of the Scenic Point Grizzly; I don’t need one. I have his vision
in my mind. His roar will always be in my head.
Carrying pepper spray, knowing how to use it, and being prepared to use it may be effective in protecting humans during encounters with grizzly bears--and may prevent grizzly bears from being "removed" from the population. After five grizzly bears were shot and killed by hunting guides in Wyoming during a two-week period in September 1997, state and federal wildlife officials began urging guides and hunters to carry bear repellent spray to reduce the chances of more grizzly bear mortalities. The request was made for the safety of hunters, guides, and other backcountry users and to help reduce setbacks to the recovery of the threatened grizzly bear in the Yellowstone Grizzly Bear Ecosystem, according to Dave Moody, chief bear biologist for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department.
Estimates for the number of miles of trails in Glacier
National Park is more than 700 miles and more than 1,200 miles of trails in Yellowstone
National Park. The presence of roads in grizzly bear habitat poses serious threats
to the safety of grizzlies and displaces them from their habitat. Grizzly bears are
known to avoid areas with greater than 1 mile of road per square mile of area. Roads
also provide access to poachers who kill grizzly bears for various reasons. Hundreds
of miles of trails in Glacier and Yellowstone National Park bring thousands of hikers and
backpackers each summer.
There are effects on grizzly bears from the presence of these trails and from
those of us who use them. Encounters occur--almost always bad for the
grizzly. Backcountry campers attract bears with their food. Noisy
hikers displace bears from their habitat--the alternative may be an encounter.
For more on Grizzly Bear Encounters go to that page.
Many state and federal officials in Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho are anxious to see the grizzly bear removed from the endangered species list in the Northern Continental Divide Grizzly Bear Ecosystem and the Yellowstone Grizzly Bear Ecosystem so grizzly bear hunting can once again take place, and for other reasons. Adequate regulatory mechanisms (to have reasonable assurance that a recovered population and its habitat or range will be maintained after delisting. The Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan goals for human-caused grizzly bear mortality and/or female mortality have not been consistently met in either ecosystem. Any plans to remove the threatened status of the grizzly bear in any grizzly bear ecosystem are very short-sighted. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service should be concentrating on providing more protection to grizzlies in places like the Selkirk, the Cabinet-Yaak, and the North Cascade grizzly bear ecosystems and reintroducing grizzlies to the Bitterroot Grizzly Bear Ecosystem instead of trying to manipulate numbers to show recovery goals are being met in the Yellowstone and Northern Continental Divide grizzly bear ecosystems.
Trails in designated bear management areas may be closed during certain periods to allow grizzlies undisturbed access to critical habitat. I know little about the effectiveness of these management actions, but I do plan to learn more. Permanent road closures in Grizzly Bear Recovery Zones may be an effective management action to provide undisturbed access to habitat. Permanent trail closures may also be an effective management tool to benefit grizzly bear populations that remain threatened. In his book, Grizzly Years, Doug Peacock suggests the absence of developed foot trails in every other drainage would provide some sanctuary for grizzly bears. Sounds like a good idea.
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