Shadow - July 14, 2011With radio-collars on 12 bears, including Lily, Faith, June, Aster, and Jewel, our limit of 15 radio-collared bears is forcing hard choices about which 3 bears to radio-collar.
Here is the dilemma. This is the year of female yearlings. Young females generally remain near their mothers’ territories. As these young female grow up and develop territories, they would provide more information about mother/young relations and black bear social organization than ever before. In the past, opportunities like this were thwarted by deaths from hunting, vehicles, or DNR removals. This year, improvements in GPS technology and the presence of several young females in Shadow’s clan present an unprecedented opportunity, but we are limited to 15 radio-collars.
Here are the bears we most want to radio-collar.
Shadow (25 years old). She is the matriarch of the clan we're studying. We radio-collared her in the past. Years have passed. Has she shifted her territory? Does it overlap the territories of her descendents? If so, to how many generations? How does the size of this dominant old bear’s territory compare with those of her descendents? Does territory size vary with age? Beyond that. The few years she was radio-collared, she proved to be the earliest bear to den up—in August! She should be pregnant and ready to den up early this year. How early will she den? How consistently does she den up early when pregnant?
Samantha and cubs - July 6, 2012Samantha (3), daughter of Braveheart and the mother of 3 cubs. This is Braveheart’s first daughter to survive hunters, establish a territory, and reproduce. We’d like to see where her territory is in relation Braveheart’s and the extent to which Braveheart avoids it.
Oliana - July 31, 2012Oliana (1) and Jani (1), the yearling daughters of Braveheart and great grand-daughters of Shadow. At this age, they undoubtedly live separately within the large territory of big Braveheart. Do they have compact subterritories that Braveheart avoids? Or do they roam Braveheart’s entire territory and occasionally beyond? How do these potential competitors interact when they meet? How do they interact with Braveheart? Do they overlap with Samantha’s territory? We’d like to radio-collar them this year, see where they den, and closely follow them each year as they grow to maturity. These 2 yearlings are seldom seen by anyone and make very few visits to feeding stations—even in this year of scarce food. Are they remaining in small subterritories within Braveheart’s territory that they will expand as they mature?
Daisy (1), daughter of Bow and great granddaughter of Shadow. Daisy has already shown potential to be a bear we can walk with. We wonder how she can squeeze a territory in amongst the territories of Bow, RC, Braveheart, and possibly Shadow.
Cookie - April 22, 2012Cookie (7), daughter of Dot and a great granddaughter of Shadow. Cookie has a calm, trusting personality and is a bear researchers could walk with. She would have been great to study in relation to her mother Dot, but Cookie removed her collars so often in the past that we've had little opportunity. Now she has shifted her territory away from Dot and is mostly disjunct from the cluster of territories we are studying. She is mostly inaccessible in a roadless area but lately is providing an opportunity to radio-collar her because she has made a few visits to a feeding station.
Victoria - Oct 22, 2011Victoria (1) is the trusting daughter of Jo who was killed. Learning how she makes a living and survives as other bears move in and take over Jo’s old territory could be enlightening.
Star in den - Jan 26, 2012Star (3), a great-great-granddaughter of Shadow, is a trusting bear that will likely have cubs this winter. She lives in an accessible area. We would like to see how her territory squeezes in between the territories of Braveheart (10), Dot (12), and her mother Donna (12).
Selecting 3 of these 8 for study is difficult.
Thank you for the additional ideas for exhibits and improvements in the Bear Center and the new Hope Education Building.
Lily Fans near Naugatuck, Connecticut, might like to hear Felicia Ortner’s bear talk at the Naugatuck Historical Society (195 Water Street) at 1:00 PM Sunday, August 19. Recent sightings of bears in the area prompted the talk.
Thank you for all you do.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center