Black bear population survey.

Authors(s): F. Lindzey and R. Grogan

Publication:

Publisher:

Publication Date: 0000-00-00

Type: annual, completed project

Location:

Abstract: Developing a cost effective, accurate method for estimating black bear density and population size has plagued wildlife managers for years. Recent advancements in DNA technology have made it possible to identify individual animals from samples as small as a single hair. Baited, barbed-wire hair-capture-corrals were used to collect black bear hair samples for DNA analysis. Hair was collected from the Snowy Range black bear population in southeast Wyoming, a known low-density population, and from the Black Rock-Spread Creek area of northwest Wyoming, a suspected high-density population. Microsatellite DNA analysis is being conducted on hair samples to identify genetically unique individuals. These results will then be used with a capture-recapture model to estimate black bear density and population size. This technique will then be evaluated for accuracy and cost effectiveness for possible future use in surveying other Wyoming black bear populations.

Keywords: Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, University of Wyoming, animal, mammal, bear, black bear, Ursus americanus, Ursidae, population, mortality, Bridger-Teton National Forest, Teton wilderness