Stable grizzly population despite two mortalities in region

BONNERS FERRY — Two grizzly bear mortalities this year did not impact the long term stable population trend of grizzly bears in the Selkirk Mountains and the Cabinet-Yaak recovery areas, according to the 2014 Autumn Cabinet-Yaak and Selkirk Mountains Grizzly Bear Ecosystems Update.

An adult male grizzly bear was killed by a hunter in self-defense along the Little Thompson River on Oct. 26 in the Cabinet-Yaak recovery area. The bear was originally captured in British Columbia in 2007 during a research project and then captured again this spring southeast of Eureka, Mont.

The other known mortality this year was a subadult female on the north side of Boundary Creek in British Columbia in the Selkirk Mountains recovery area. The bear was radio-collared and the incident is under investigation by British Columbia conservation officers according to the report. Lower mortality rates of female bears over the last several years has resulted in a long term stable population trend.

Grizzly bear populations in the Selkirk Mountains and the Cabinet-Yaak area are monitored by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service through radio collars, trail cameras, hair snagging and DNA analysis. USFWS captures bears every year to maintain a radio collared sample to determine population trends and causes of mortalities. This year USFWS captured seven bears in the Cabinet-Yaak recovery area. An adult female was captured in Libby Creek in the Cabinet Mountains during mid-June. A trail camera at the capture site detected three yearlings or two-year-olds accompanying her.

Six grizzly bears were captured in the Yaak. Two subadult males were captured in Idaho near the Montana/British Columbia border during late June. Three adult males and a yearling female were captured in Hellroaring Creek during late August and September. The yearling was accompanied by her mother and a sibling who were not captured but detected by a trail camera at the capture site. Nine grizzly bears were captured in the Selkirk Mountains. One adult male grizzly bear was captured and collared in the US near Hughes Meadows in late June. In May and June, an adult female, three adult males and four subadult males were captured and collared between Nelson and Salmo, British Columbia east of Highway 6.

The USFWS monitored thirty grizzly bears this year, the above-mentioned bears along with two adult females in the Yaak; two subadult males and two subadult females in the Cabinet Mountains; three adult females and three subadult females in the US Selkirk Mountains; and two adult females in the Canadian Selkirk Mountains. Four of the grizzly bears monitored in the Cabinet Mountains were augmentation bears. Two two-year-old sibling females were monitored after their release on June 19 west of Spar Lake. The siblings were expected to remain together for a while but the pair separated with one bear moving to the main Cabinet Mountains and the other moving south of Ross Creek.

The other two augmentation bears monitored in the Cabinet Mountains were 4-year-old males. The male released in 2012 spent most of his time between East Fork of the Bull River to the south and Camp Creek to the north. The male released in 2013 spent most of his time in the west Cabinet Mountains with his collar dropping off in upper Lightning Creek. In 2012, the population estimate by the USGS for the Cabinet Mountains was 22 to 24 grizzly bears and the same number for the Yaak River. The USFWS collected hair samples this year at a subset of the rub trees established during the 2012 analysis.

Between corrals, camera sites and radio collars, five family groups were identified in the Cabinet-Yaak recovery area and five or six family groups were identified in the Selkirk Mountains. DNA analysis of the hair samples will provide a better estimate of the grizzly population that had an exceptional berry crop (the highest recorded in the last 25 years) to feast on this year.

For the complete report and previous reports, visit http://www.igbconline.org/index.php/scy-reports.