GBOP

Good News for Grizzly Bears in the Selkirk Recovery Area

Posted: by snegri

Great News for Grizzly Bear Recovery. Vital Ground sent a press release out January 6th with the good news. The project is important for grizzly bears because it provides critical habitat during winter months when their food at higher elevation is covered with snow. Below is a brief description of the property. If you want to learn more about this effort see the link below. Thank you to all who played an important role in this project.

” Located just west of Priest Lake, Bismark Meadows and is an 1,100-acre complex of meadows and wetlands that features a dramatic array of rare flora and fauna. It supports several endangered plant species and provides habitat for moose, elk, deer, black bear, westslope cutthroat trout, and eagles, as well as the threatened Selkirk Mountains grizzly population. The project area lies within the Selkirk Grizzly Bear Recovery Zone delineated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.”

Read more about the acquisition and learn why this acquisition is so important to bears and other wildlife.

CDA Press: Selkirk Mountains grizzly population as high as 72

Posted: by tim

Selkirk Mountains grizzly population as high as 72

Posted: Thursday, November 4, 2010 12:00 am | Updated: 9:52 am, Mon Nov 8, 2010.
By LAURA ROADY

There are between 50 and 72 grizzly bears inhabiting the Selkirk Mountains of Idaho and British Columbia, according to a recent study.
“Sixty-five to 70 bears has been my estimate,” said Wayne Wakkinen, Idaho Fish and Game biologist, who presented the information at the September KVRI meeting. “We were pretty good with our guess.”

Results indicate that grizzly bear density ranges from 2.5 to 3.6 bears per 100 square miles, with the Selkirks covering approximately 2,000 square miles.
Density results are similar to grizzly bear studies in the Canadian Selkirks, with densities of 16.5 bears per 1,000 square kilometers in Canada and 14.1 bears per 1,000 square kilometers in the U.S.

“Four of the bears in our sampling were also sampled in British Columbia,” said Wakkinen. Individual bears could be identified because both studies relied on DNA from hair samples to count the bears.

The study provides a size estimate of the population, but Wakkinen warned it doesn’t say anything about the trend. While the DNA does indicate if the bear is male or female, it doesn’t indicate whether it is of reproductive age.

Of the 15 grizzly bears captured in the study area, nine were females and six were males. With the results extrapolated to the entire Selkirk Range, the estimated population is 50 to 72 grizzly bears.

Grizzly bears in the Selkirk Mountains have a distinct DNA fingerprint that allows researchers to distinguish them from grizzlies in the Cabinet-Yaak ecosystem and the Northern Continental Divide ecosystem.

“These are resident bears,” Wakkinen said. “There is evidence that the Selkirk species is expanding… I think with the amount of movement between the Northern Continental Divide ecosystem, the Cabinet-Yaak ecosystem and the Selkirks, that we are not in a big rush to be concerned about genetics … I think it is getting better.”

To further understand the grizzly bear population in the Selkirks, the next project focuses on habitat-quality monitoring. “If we can rate habitat… then we can say that the density (of the grizzly bears) is higher or lower in certain habitat areas,” Wakkinen said.

$2500 Reward Offered for Bear Poaching Case in the North Cascades National Park

Posted: by rose_oliver

The illegal killing of two black bears in late August in the North Cascades National Park has promoted the posting of a $2,500 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible.The reward is being offered by The Humane Society of the United States and The Humane Society Wildlife Land Trust.

On Aug. 28, hikers on the Maple Pass Loop trail near Washington Pass observed two male adults and two male adolescents posing for pictures with two bears they had illegally killed. One of the dead bears was later discovered by park rangers to have gunshot wounds. Hunting is prohibited within the park’s boundaries.

Anyone with information about this case is asked to call North Cascade National Park Dispatch at 360-854-7249. Callers may remain anonymous.

Black Bear video from Issaquah Highlands, Washington

Posted: by Cathy Macchio

Since early summer I set up a remote camera in Issaquah Highlands in hopes of capturing a photo of the resident black bear. Finally in September, I was thrilled to finally capture this video of the bear, but I was not happy the bear was eating garbage.

For the past several years black bears have been lured into our neighborhood for a buffet of treats from our garbage that many people leave outside their homes. This past summer the bears were frequent visitors to Wisteria Park where I set up a remote camera in Maggie’s yard. The bears were entering the neighborhood through her yard, as well as other neighbors’ yards. Once the bears smelled ripe garbage they wandered down the alley pulling out trash from garbage cans and brought the garbage back to Maggie’s yard where they ripped open the bags to eat everything.

Maggie and some of her neighbors living next to the greenbelt store their garbage in their garages until the morning of pick-up to deter bears. Unfortunately, many of her neighbors do not follow the same Bear Smart practices;see tips for coexistence at https://westernwildlife.org/black-bears/tips-for-coexistence/. In 1995 a study in Pinetop Lakes, Arizona showed that by storing garbage inside until the morning of garbage pick-up reduced bear/garbage incursions from 68% to just 2% http://www.bearsmart.com/report/321.

Bears have an acute sense of smell. They can smell garbage that is stored outside and birdseed from a mile away. Bears also have an incredibly good memory. Once a bear finds a food source, such as garbage, birdseed, even biodiesel, it makes a mental map and will then return year after year to that site. That is why it is especially important to be consistent and for everyone in a neighborhood to always store their garbage inside or in a bear resistant container.

If you are having problems with garbage and bears in your neighborhood, you may want to talk with your neighbors about what they can do to prevent bear incursions or just print this bear smart check list at the bottom of the page https://westernwildlife.org/our-work/gbop-products/ and send it to your neighbors. That is what I did in my community in the Issaquah Highlands, and it is making a difference for us and the bears.

Remote camera captures this beautiful photo of a North Cascades Grizzly Bear

Posted: by rose_oliver

Just 15 miles north of the border between Washington and Canada this photo of a North Cascades Grizzly Bear was captured in the Manning Provincial Park. This is just a mere 2 to 3 hour walk for the bear from Washington State, making it the closest confirmed sighting of a North Cascades Grizzly Bear in years.

Grizzly bears have a home range of 50-300 square miles for females and 200-500 for males. They are a barometer of an ecosystem’s health and due to their large home range, protection of sufficient habitat for grizzly bears will benefit a countless number of other species in the Cascades. Grizzly bears have lived in the North Cascades for thousands of years and they play an important ecological role in their natural environment. This photo is good news for bears, which means it’s also good news for people!


Update on the search for grizzlies in the North Cascades

Posted: by Cathy Macchio

Watch the in-depth King 5 news coverage of the grizzly bear survey in the North Cascades. Scientists will set up 75-100 hair snags and a few dozen remote cameras that cover three areas in Washington State, north of Highway 20, between Highway 20 and Highway 2, and between Highway 2 and Interstate 90, all within the 9,565 square miles of prime habitat for recovering grizzlies. Approximately $90,000 in grants-mainly from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service but also from the U.S. Forest Service-will fund the project.

Although the last grizzly bear in the Cascades was killed in the 1960’s, there have been confirmed reports of grizzly bears since that time. In fact, the last confirmed grizzly sighting was in 1996 in the Glacier Peak Wilderness area. Bill Gaines, wildlife biologist for the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, states there was a “pretty good” grizzly sighting in the Chiwawa river Valley north of Lake Wenatchee in the fall of 2008.

We are excited for confirmation of grizzlies in the Cascade mountains but the Grizzly Bear Outreach Project also realizes if no evidence is found, it does not mean grizzlies are not out there. Hair snags and remote cameras are not foolproof when it comes to documenting the presence of grizzly bears.

No evidence of rising human-grizzly encounters

Posted: by Cathy Macchio

According to a N.Y. Times article, the recent news about attacks by grizzly bears in Montana may have people concerned that human-bear encounters are on the rise, but this is not true. Human-bear encounters remain relatively rare. Some interesting statistics:

  • 62 million visitors have been to Yellowstone National Park from 1980-2002 and only 32 injuries were caused by bears.
  • According to Park Officials the chance of being injured by a bear in Yellowstone Ntional Park is 1 in 1.9 million.
  • From 1900-2004 grizzly bears have killed 87 people across North America according to Ainslie Willock president of the Get Bear Smart Society based in Whistler, B.C.

 

In fact, Eric Kezsler of Wyoming Game and Fish states there have not been more bear encounters than usual this year. Aside form the bizarre grizzly bear attack that occurred in the Soda Butte Campground in Montana on July 28, 2010, the Montana Fish and Wildlife spokesman states this year has been pretty typical in respect to bears.

Usually grizzly bears attack because they are defending their young, a food source or are suddenly surprised. None of these scenarios apply to the grizzly bear attack that occurred to the three campers in the Soda Butte Campground, where one man was killed and two others were injured. Officials are baffled as to why the attacks occurred. An interagency team will be investigating the incident and releasing a report in the next couple of weeks.

You can learn much more about recreating safely in bear country and what to do if you encounter a bear on our website under bear safety.