Black Bear Ecology and Response to Human Activity in Kenai Fjords National Park

Villepique, Jeffrey

Development and increasing recreational use in previously wild areas increases the potential for both human injury and loss of bears through defense of life and property (DLP) killings (Martinka 1982, Herrero and Fleck 1989). A summary of DLP killings in the Kenai Fjords National Park Resource Management Plan shows 9 DLP killings of black bears between 1983-1994 (1994). The number of kayak campers and campers who take chartered boats and planes to public use cabins (PUCs) has nearly doubled over a 5-year period from 1994 to 1999 (Tetreau 2000). The potential for conflicts may increase in light of increased backcountry use in the park and reversion of approximately 25% of the coast of KEFJ to private ownership (Tetreau 2000). Martinka (1982) suggests that for grizzly bears (Ursus arctos), localized manipulation of human numbers may be important in minimizing human contact and potential bear habituation. The rationale that management be based on the knowledge of particular areas of bear activity can be applied to black bears as well. Thus, information on the location and phenology of areas of high black bear activity and resource concentration in KEFJ can be directly applied to minimizing human-bear conflicts through a bear management plan. We obtained funding (Canon Expedition Into The Parks grant, National Park Service Alaska Central Coast Group (ACCG), Challenge Cost Share, and Alaska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit graduate student fund) to conduct a study of black bear movement and resource use in KEFJ which was designed to enable determination of the spatial and temporal distribution of resources selected by black bears. This information could provide a scientific basis for optimal management of bears and park users.