Eastern Slopes Grizzly Bear Project

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EASTERN SLOPES GRIZZLY BEAR PROJECT: 
A progress report for 1999

Prepared for the Eastern Slopes Grizzly Bear Steering Committee

This paper contains preliminary results of an on-going study and should not be cited 
without permission from the authors.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
STUDY AREA
METHODS
RESULTS
NEW REPORTS
POPULATION STUDIES
CAPTURE
TELEMETRY DATA SET
POPULATION  DEMOGRAPHICS
LITERATURE CITED

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1. Grizzly bear capture data in the Bow River Watershed, Alberta, 1999

Table 2. Status of all grizzly bears captured in the Bow River Watershed, Alberta, as of December 1999.

Table 3. Unduplicated grizzly bear females with cubs of the year in the Bow River Watershed, Alberta, 1993 through 1999

Table 4. Reproductive status of known female grizzly bears in the Bow River Watershed, Alberta, 1999.

Table 5. Summary of grizzly bear translocations in the Bow River Watershed, Alberta, 1993 through 1999.       

Table 6. Summary of grizzly bear mortalities in the Bow River Watershed, Alberta, 1993 through 1999.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

A very successful sixth field season would not have been possible without the dedication of field biologists C. Hague, C. Mueller and S. Stevens.  Their efforts were augmented through the largely volunteer support of  C. Campbell and M. Lacroix.  Assistance in coordination of field staff was provided by A. Dibb, S. Donelon and T. Hurd.  Trapping was conducted by C. Mamo.  Veterinary care was provided by Dr. Todd Shury.  Several Alberta Fish and Wildlife Officers, Banff National Park Wardens and Peter Lougheed Park Rangers all provided invaluable safety backup and field assistance during trapping.    The Banff Park Warden Service and Kananaskis Country Park Rangers provided logistical support through all stages of monitoring.  Exemplary flying skills were provided by Alpine Helicopters of Canmore and fixed wing pilot M. Dupuis of Wildlife Observation Air Services.

The Eastern Slopes Grizzly Bear Steering Committee helped implement and guided this research.  All steering committee participants contribute either money, time or both toward the objectives.  Through the Steering Committee, governments, industry, business and conservation groups work together to support this project.  The supporters include:

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

During 1999 our research focused on the effects of both motorized and non-motorized tourism oriented activities on grizzly bears.  One of our principle research questions is how do grizzly bear's spatial and temporal use patterns differ in areas of high human presence compared to areas with low human presence in a landscape, some of which is dominated by tourism activities?  Our situation is unique in that no other grizzly bear study area in North America has both a high volume transcontentinal highway and railway dissecting occupied grizzly bear habitat along with intensive tourism.  Analysis has never been done on the effects of such levels of human presence on grizzly bears.  One important question is the extent to which the Bow River Valley continues to function as a major movement corridor for bears providing connectivity between habitats.

The overall goal of ESGBP research is to understand how developments and human-induced mortality impact grizzly bears.  Specific research objectives include:

1.         Determine the basic demographic parameters for the grizzly bear population within the study area.

2.         Detect spatial and temporal activity patterns of bears given various levels of human influences.

3.         Determine how the distribution of humans affects a bear's ability to use the landscape.

4.         Determine if population connectivity is being impeded by major transportation corridors.

5.         Determine what adjustments to human activities would give bears better access to resources.

6.         Suggest management alternatives for integrating land uses compatible with bear habitat and survival needs for the study area.

STUDY AREA

The area of interest remains unchanged from year 1 with the approximately  11,400 km² Bow River Watershed, from its headwaters to approximately where it meets the prairies, as the core study area.  The greater study area defined by the movement of radio-collared bears is about 22,000 km² or roughly twice the size of the core study area.  At the largest scale our research encompasses the 42,000 km² Central Rockies Ecosystem (Komex International 1995).

METHODS

Methods for both the capture and monitoring of bears remain unchanged from the detailed description found in the year 1 progress report (Gibeau and Herrero 1995).   Approximately 25 grizzly bears per year have active radio‑collars.  These bears are monitored from air and ground wherever they go and our budget permits.  Aerial monitoring gives infrequent, but relatively unbiased data regarding location.  This facilitates understanding of home range, movements and habitat use.  Ground‑based research allows intensive monitoring of grizzly bear activities related to development features such as towns, highways, campgrounds and trails.  Mortality is monitored using both aerial and ground‑based telemetry.  The radio‑telemetry monitoring area includes lands under several different jurisdictions.  In the British Columbia portion of these lands, where some of our radio‑collared grizzly bears are found, there is a Western Slopes Bear Research Project (Woods pers. comm.) which provides complementary data and will allow a broader ecosystem versus provincial boundary‑based understanding of grizzly bears in the Central Rockies Ecosystem.

POPULATION  DEMOGRAPHICS

Observations from the research team as well as records from Banff National Park, Kananaskis Country Rangers and Alberta Fish and Wildlife Services established a minimum unduplicated count of  females with cubs for the years 1993 - 1999  (Table 3).  Over time, a minimum count of sows with cubs can be established and used as a trend indicator (Knight et al. 1995).

Table 3. Unduplicated grizzly bear females with cubs of the year in the Bow River Watershed, Alberta, 1993 through 1999.