Projected Future Abundance of the Yellowstone Grizzly Bear
Knight RR and Eberhardt LL. 1984. Projected Future Abundance of the Yellowstone Grizzly Bear. The Journal of Wildlife Management. 48(4):1434-1438
Low densities, secretive behavior, and high mobility make grizzlies (Ursus arctos horribilis ) especially difficult to census. Adult females with cubs are most readily observed, and the presence of the young provides additional cues for distinguishing family groups (individuals can be identified by cataloging coat colors, scars, tags, locations, etc., as suggested by Cole 1974). Reproduction begins at age 5 and cubs are produced at an average interval of just over 3 years. Summing the numbers of different females with cubs that were counted over 3 successive years thus gives an estimate of a minimal number of fully adult females in the population during the 1st year of any 3-year period. Although intensive efforts have bene made to develop other census techniques, this method appears to provide the best presently available index of grizzly abundance in Yellowstone National Park and its environs.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Knight, R; Eberhardt, L
- Units
- YELL
- Keywords
- Animal Studies, Feeding, Food, Garbage, grizzly bear(Ursus arctos), Mammals, Management, Mortality, Natural Resource Management, Population