Yellowstone grizzly bear investigations: annual report of the Interagency Study Team, 2000

Authors(s): C. C. Schwartz and M. A. Haroldson

Publication:

Publisher:

Publication Date: 0000-00-00

Type: annual report

Location: Bozeman Montana

Abstract: It was recognized as early as 1973, that in order to understand the dynamics of grizzly bears (Ursus arctos horribilis) throughout the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE), there was a need for a centralized research group responsible for collecting, managing, analyzing, and distributing information. To meet this need, agencies formed the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team (IGBST), a cooperative effort among the U.S. Geological Survey, National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), and the States of Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. The responsibilities of the IGBST are to: (1) conduct both short and long-term research projects addressing information needs for bear management, (2) monitor the bear population, including status and trend, numbers, reproduction, and mortality, (3) monitor grizzly bear habitats, foods, and impacts of humans, and (4) provide technical support to agencies and other groups responsible for the immediate and long-term management of grizzly bears in the GYE. Quantitative data on grizzly bear abundance, distribution, survival, mortality, nuisance activity, and bear foods are critical to formulating management strategies and decisions. Moreover, this information is necessary to evaluating the recovery process. The IGBST coordinates data collection and analysis on an ecosystem scale, prevents overlap of effort, and pools limited economic and personnel resources.

Keywords: IGBST, Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team, Yellowstone National Park, Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, Idaho, animal, mammal, bear, grizzly bear, Ursidae, Ursus arctos horribilis, habitat, population, management, mortality, food, forage, human activity, migration