First proof of bear movement

For the first time, movement of a grizzly bear between the Selkirk Mountains and the Cabinet Mountains has been officially documented through DNA analysis.

A young male grizzly bear’s DNA was sampled as part of the Cabinet-Yaak grizzly bear project. An expanding set of DNA data on grizzly bears in the northern Rockies allowed biologists to locate the grizzly’s parents.

Both the mother and father of the young bear were sampled for DNA in a previous project in the Selkirk Mountains north of Highway 3 in British Columbia. The sibling of the young grizzly was also sampled and is still located north of Highway 3.

“We have seen interchange, linkage between populations,” said Wayne Kasworm, USFWS bear biologist. “He is probably too young to reproduce yet.”

The movement of the grizzly bear from the Selkirk Mountains to the Cabinets is one highlight of the bear project. Results from the project won’t be available until 2014.

A second highlight of the preliminary results is the confirmation that two augmented grizzly bears to the Cabinet Mountains have successfully reproduced male offspring said Kasworm.

Since 1990, 14 grizzly bears have been transplanted into the Cabinet Mountains to augment the population.

“This is the second instance for success of augmentation,” said Kasworm.

Augmentation of the Cabinet grizzly population adds new genetics to the population. Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks and the USFWS are planning to transplant one to two male grizzly bears this summer.

The bear project results will show the genetic diversity of the grizzly bear population in the Cabinet-Yaak recovery area that covers 2,600 square miles.

Katherine Kendall, USGS research biologist and principal investigator on the project, is analyzing DNA collected from hair snagging and rub trees in the recovery area and a buffer. Samples were collected by 75 workers between June and September 2012. Several samples were missed in the initial shipment to the lab and have pushed back the results of the study.

It’s the USGS, not the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, conducting the research because, “We’re in the business of good science without a stake in the outcome besides good, reliable data,” said Kendall to the Missoulian Independent.

The project is no small undertaking with a final cost of $1.6 to $1.7 million. A number of agencies are supporting and funding the project, including Boundary County, Lincoln County, Idaho Fish and Game, Idaho Panhandle National Forest, Kootenai National Forest, Kootenai Tribe of Idaho, Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks, Sanders County, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, USFWS and USGS.