Food habits of black bears in the Greys River Drainage, Wyoming

Authors(s): F. M. Hammond

Publication:

Publisher:

Publication Date: 0000-00-00

Type: MS

Location: Laramie WY

Abstract: The diet of black bears (Ursus americanus) was determined in 1981 and 1982 in a high, mountainous region of west-central Wyoming containing low to moderate bear densities which were heavily exploited most of the year by recreational hunters and sheep herders. Annual, seasonal and monthly feeding habits were examined, comparing a year of food shortage with a year of food abundance. Occurrence and relative abundance of important foods were measured in several habitats. Contents of scats indicated bear diets averaged 61% green herbaceous material, 20% fruit and seeds, and 19% animal matter. Winter-killed moose (Alces alces) and elk (Cervus elaphus), as well as bait stations maintained by hunters, supply an important source of early spring protein. A summer of little precipitation and fruit shortage coincided with increased feeding on domestic sheep, small mammals, insects, and with a diet comprised of nearly 80% green vegetation. The following year berries and pine nuts were abundant, and they were ingested to the exclusion of other food items. However, fruits of only 3 of 22 berry-producing species available were eaten in appreciable amounts. Other berry-producing shrubs produced little fruit, apparently because they were severely hedged by browsing ungulates. High elevation riparian zones and snow chutes were important food producing habitats especially during the drought year.

Keywords: Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, University of Wyoming, animal, mammal, bear, Ursidae, black bear, Ursus americanus, food, behavior, forage, moose, Alces alces, Cervidae, elk, Cervus elaphus, wapiti, sheep, livestock, human activity, food, wildlife , habitat , management, Greys River, insect, entomology, Insecta