The Florida black bear (Ursus americanus floridanus) is the only species of bear in Florida, with an estimated population of approximately 4,030 bears. Bears that eat garbage put themselves in ...danger. This 3-page fact sheet written by Ethan T. Noel, Elizabeth F. Pienaar, and and Mike Orlando and published by the Wildlife Ecology and Conservation Department explains how to secure human garbage from bears so that they don’t become reliant on human food sources, a condition that puts them at great risk of being killed from vehicle collisions, illegal shooting, or euthanasia.http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/uw429
The much-loved giant panda, a secretive denizen of the dense bamboo forests of western China, has become an icon worldwide of progress in conservation and research. This volume, written by an ...international team of scientists and conservationists including Chinese researchers whose work has not been available in English, tells the promising story of how the giant panda returned from the brink of extinction. The most important sourcebook on giant pandas to date, it is the first book since 1985 to present current panda research and the first to place the species in its biological, ecological, and political contexts. More than a progress report on a highly endangered species, Giant Pandas: Biology and Conservation details the combination of scientific understanding, local commitment, and government involvement that has been brought into play and asks what more needs to be done to ensure the panda's survival.
Troublemaking carnivores Morehouse, Andrea T.; Boyce, Mark S.
Ecology and society,
09/2017, Letnik:
22, Številka:
3
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Human-wildlife conflicts are a global conservation and management challenge. Multipredator systems present added complexity to the resolution of human-wildlife conflicts because mitigation strategies ...often are species-specific. Documenting the type and distribution of such conflicts is an important first step toward ensuring that subsequent management and mitigation efforts are appropriately targeted. We reviewed 16 years of records of complaints about two species of strict carnivores, wolves (Canis lupus) and cougars (Puma concolor), and two species of omnivores, grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) and black bears (Ursus americanus) in southwestern Alberta and evaluated the temporal and spatial distribution of these complaints. Conflicts were most frequently associated with bears (68.7% of complaint records), reflecting a diversity of conflict types attributable to their omnivorous diets. Although grizzly bears killed and injured livestock, the majority of conflicts with bears were attributable to attractants (grain and dead livestock for grizzly bears, garbage for black bears). In contrast, wolf and cougar incidents were almost exclusively related to killing or injury of livestock. Complaints for both bear species have increased over the past 16 years while cougar and wolf complaints have remained relatively constant. Grizzly bear and cougar conflicts have been expanding into private lands used for agriculture. Although community driven, targeted mitigation measures have helped reduce conflicts with grizzly bears at the site level, conflicts at the broader scale have continued to increase and continued work is necessary. Long-term human-carnivore coexistence clearly is possible, facilitated by continued monitoring and local efforts to mitigate conflicts.
Global warming has the potential to reduce arctic sea ice and thereby increase the length of summer–fall fasting when polar bears (Ursus maritimus) lose access to most marine mammals. To evaluate the ...consequences of such changes, we compared the cost of fasting by polar bears with hibernation by brown bears (U. arctos), American black bears (U. americanus), and polar bears and made projections about tissue reserves polar bears will need to survive and reproduce as fasts become longer. Hibernating polar bears expend energy at the same rate per unit mass as do brown bears and black bears. However, daily mass losses, energy expenditures, and the losses of lean mass are much higher in fasting, active polar bears than in hibernating bears. The average pregnant polar bear living around Hudson Bay during the 1980s and 1990s could fast for 10.0 ± 2.3 months (X̄ ± SD), and the average lactating female with cubs born during the preceding winter could fast for 4.2 ± 1.9 months. Thus, some pregnant or lactating females with lower levels of body fat content were already approaching or beyond the constraint of being able to produce cubs and survive the required 8 months of fasting if producing new offspring or 4 months if accompanied by older offspring. Pregnant or lactating females and their dependent offspring have the most tenuous future as global warming occurs. Thus, we predict a significant reduction in productivity with even modest increases in global warming for polar bears living in the very southern part of their range and are concerned about more northern populations depending on their ability to accumulate increasing amounts of fat.
Toxoplasma gondii infections are common in humans and animals worldwide. The present review summarizes worldwide information on the prevalence of clinical and subclinical infections, epidemiology, ...and genetic diversity of T. gondii infections in bears. Seroprevalence estimates of T. gondii in black bears (Ursus americanus) are one of the highest of all animals. In Pennsylvania, seroprevalence is around 80% and has remained stable for the past 4 decades. Approximately 3,500 bears are hunted yearly in Pennsylvania alone. The validity of different serological tests is discussed based on bioassay and serological comparisons. Seroprevalence in grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) is lower than that in black bears. Even polar bears (Ursus maritimus) are infected; infections in these animals are ecologically interesting because of the absence of felids in the Arctic. Clinical toxoplasmosis in bears is rare and not documented in adult animals. The few reports of fatal toxoplasmosis in young bears need confirmation. Viable T. gondii has been isolated from black bears and a grizzly bear. The genetic diversity of isolates based on DNA from viable T. gondii isolates is discussed. Genetic typing of a total of 26 T. gondii samples from bears using 10 PCR-RFLP markers revealed 8 PCR-RFLP ToxoDB genotypes: #1 (clonal type II) in 3 samples, #2 (clonal type III) in 8 samples, #4 (haplogroup 12) in 3 samples, #5 (haplogroup 12) in 3 samples, #74 in 5 samples, #90 in 1 sample, #147 in 1 sample, and #216 in 2 samples. These results suggest relatively high genetic diversity of T. gondii in bears. Overall, T. gondii isolates in bears range from those circulating in a domestic cycle (genotypes #1 and #2) to those mainly associated with wildlife (such as genotypes #4 and #5, together known as haplogroup 12). A patient who acquired clinical Trichinella spiralis infection after eating undercooked bear meat also acquired T. gondii infection. Freezing of infected meat kills T. gondii, including the strains isolated from bears.
Efficacy of Bear Deterrent Spray in Alaska Smith, Tom S; Herrero, Stephen; Debruyn, Terry D ...
The Journal of wildlife management,
04/2008, Letnik:
72, Številka:
3
Journal Article
Recenzirano
We present a comprehensive look at a sample of bear spray incidents that occurred in Alaska, USA, from 1985 to 2006. We analyzed 83 bear spray incidents involving brown bears (Ursus arctos; 61 cases, ...74%), black bears (Ursus americanus; 20 cases, 24%), and polar bears (Ursus maritimus; 2 cases, 2%). Of the 72 cases where persons sprayed bears to defend themselves, 50 (69%) involved brown bears, 20 (28%) black bears, and 2 (3%) polar bears. Red pepper spray stopped bears' undesirable behavior 92% of the time when used on brown bears, 90% for black bears, and 100% for polar bears. Of all persons carrying sprays, 98% were uninjured by bears in close-range encounters. All bear-inflicted injuries (n = 3) associated with defensive spraying involved brown bears and were relatively minor (i.e., no hospitalization required). In 7% (5 of 71) of bear spray incidents, wind was reported to have interfered with spray accuracy, although it reached the bear in all cases. In 14% (10 of 71) of bear spray incidents, users reported the spray having had negative side effects upon themselves, ranging from minor irritation (11%, 8 of 71) to near incapacitation (3%, 2 of 71). Bear spray represents an effective alternative to lethal force and should be considered as an option for personal safety for those recreating and working in bear country.
Understanding factors that govern the abundance of organisms is fundamental to the science of ecology and important for conservation and management of species. I used temporal and spatial comparisons ...to test the influence of human industrial activity, huckleberry (Vaccinium membranaceum) productivity, and population density on grizzly bear (Ursus arctos) vital rates and population trends over a 32-year period. Survival rates of adult and subadult males were 0.84 and 0.78, respectively, and lower than those of adult (0.93) or subadult females (0.96). Of the 31 bears that died while radio-collared, 26 (84%) were killed by people. Of those killed by people, 11 (35%) were legally killed by hunters and 84% were deaths that occurred <120 m from a road. In the first decade of study (1979–1988) when salvage logging and gas exploration was intensive, bear density was relatively low, and huckleberry production was generally good, the population increased (λ = 1.074) with high survival rates of cubs (0.84) and yearlings (0.86) plus a high reproductive rate of 0.374. During the second decade (1989–1998) when there was little industrial activity and huckleberry production remained good, the population continued to grow (λ ≈ 1.06–1.08) because survival of all age classes remained high, but the reproductive rate declined to 0.257. Bear density reached its maximum (55.6 bears/1,000 km2 excluding independent males) at the start of the third decade. During the third decade (1999–2010), there was little industrial activity, but huckleberry production declined dramatically and often completely failed. During the third decade the population declined (λ ≈ 0.955–0.980) as the reproductive rate dropped to 0.192 because of small litters (1.82), extended interbirth intervals (2.93, 3.44, and 4.22 years in decades 1, 2, and 3, respectively) and increased age of primiparity (6.60, 7.09, and 10.46 years in decades 1, 2, and 3, respectively). Adult female survival also declined likely because more females were without offspring and thus vulnerable to hunting. The best model predicting if a parous female would have a small (0 or 1 cub) or large (2 or 3 cub) litter when not encumbered with offspring the previous mating season included both huckleberry abundance the previous year and female bear density. Population inventories during the third decade had approximately twice as many bears detected per DNA hair trap set in the portion of the valley where there had been rapid industrial development, grizzly bear hunting, and large huckleberry fields than in an adjacent portion of the valley that was protected from industry and hunting but with no major huckleberry fields. The abundance of huckleberries growing in mountains above most human activity permitted this population to expand in spite of the industrial development. The population was primarily regulated by the interaction of bear density and the density-independent production of huckleberries, their major summer-fall energy food.
Human tolerance for interactions with large carnivores is an important determinant of their persistence on the landscape, yet the relative importance of factors affecting tolerance is not fully ...understood. Further, the impact of management efforts to alter tolerance has not been adequately assessed. We developed a model containing a comprehensive set of predictors drawn from prior studies and tested it through a longitudinal survey measuring tolerance for black bears (Ursus americanus) in the vicinity of Durango, Colorado, USA. Predictors included human-bear conflicts, outcomes of interactions with bears, perceptions of benefits and risks from bears, trust in managers, perceived similarity with the goals of managers, personal control over risks, value orientations toward wildlife, and demographic factors. In addition, we monitored changes in tolerance resulting from a bear-proofing experiment designed to reduced garbage-related conflicts in the community. Residents who perceived greater benefits associated with bears and more positive impacts from bear-related interactions had higher tolerance. Residents who perceived greater risks and more negative impacts and who had greater trust in managers, domination wildlife value orientations, and older age were less tolerant. Conflicts with bears were not an important predictor, supported by our finding that changes in conflicts resulting from our bear-proofing experiment did not affect tolerance. In contrast to conservation approaches that focus primarily on decreasing human-wildlife conflicts, our findings suggest that communication approaches aimed at increasing public tolerance for carnivores could be improved by emphasizing the benefits and positive impacts of living with these species.
•Tolerance for black bears increased with perceived benefits, positive interactions.•Tolerance decreased with perceived risk, negative interactions, trust in managers.•Tolerance decreased with domination values, age.•Management that changed rates of garbage-related conflicts did not affect tolerance.•Emphasis on benefits and positive impacts of coexistence may increase tolerance.
PDF
