Research

The impact of seasonal cattle grazing on ungulate spatiotemporal behavior in a multiuse recreational area in central Alberta - PloS one, 2024

...  we examined Roosevelt elk (Cervus canadensis roosevelti) spatiotemporal behavior responses to brown bear (Ursus arctos) habitat use on Afognak and Raspberry islands, Alaska ... Elk behavioral response to risk of brown bear predation could increase energy expenditure and decrease their ability to acquire forage, therefore negatively impacting survival and reproduction with spatiotemporal variation in risk response potentially amplifying these impacts...

 Spring black bear harvest and predation pressure on moose calves in a multi‐predator system 2024, Minnesota, The Journal of Wildlife Management

... moose ... has recently declined in Minnesota ... Mean proportion of calf predation attributed to bears was 4.9 times higher (30% vs. 6%) in the years when a spring bear hunt was not held. Despite an increasing wolf density during the study period, we did not observe compensatory increase in wolf predation during spring bear hunt years. The results of this work suggest that the addition of a spring bear hunt,

during a time when moose calves are most vulnerable to bear predation, has the potential to increase moose calf survival even in the presence of wolves...

"Black Bear populations have been on the increase for over 20 years. Population estimates range from 850,000 to one million.  Black bears are the most specialized of deer predators, and they focus mostly on fawns. Remember, a black bear can smell about 400 times as well as a blood hound. The frequently used “fact” that fawns do not have scent is totally false! I personally have watched bears go into a search pattern in large food plots, picking up the scent of hidden fawns and quickly killing them."   -  Dr. James C. Kroll, Deadly Deer Predators - North American Whitetail.  September 10, 2021

News

Is grizzlies’ reintroduction in Central Idaho ‘a death sentence’ or restoring nature? March 17, 2024 Idaho, The Columbian

... Many opponents said grizzly reintroduction would turn Idaho into “a predator pit,” reduce wild deer and elk populations, threaten livestock, and pose a danger to residents and outdoor recreators...

Afield: Pennsylvania’s bear population is down, fewer harvested this season December 24, 2022  Centre Daily Times

... Pennsylvania’s black bear population peaked about four years ago, estimated at over 20,000 bears, and stayed that way until 2020, when it began dropping. This year, the Pennsylvania Game Commission projected fewer than 16,000 bears in the state..,