Wyoming Wildlife magazine - 38

day-to-day management of conflict prevention, population
monitoring, capturing, handling, observations and all of the
different habitat research is conducted by Game and Fish.
Q: What is the " donut hole " when discussing grizzly bear
populations, and is it accurate?
DB: We've been documenting the expansion of the population distribution in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem
and it's clear and irrefutable that we are seeing grizzly bears
in many places we have never seen them before. However,
because we have such a strong underestimate of the population, it shows population numbers are increasing at a much
slower rate than our distribution. The donut hole concept
theorizes that what's happening is the core of the ecosystem
is losing bears and they are moving outward toward the
periphery and causing this " donut hole " in the middle where
population densities are getting lower and lower.
That's easy to assess by simply looking at the data. Once
we do, it is clear that this is not happening. All we have
to do is look at observations of females with cubs, their
locations and document the number of bears we're seeing
at the core, and that hasn't changed in the last 10 to 15-plus
years. We're still seeing abundant females with cubs at the
core of the population in Yellowstone National Park, and
places like the Hayden Valley are just as dense as they have
been, if not more.
Q: What's the ideal habitat for grizzly bears?
Dan Thompson: From a social standpoint, what is most suitable for grizzly bears are areas where they will not have much
interaction with people and the potential for conflict is low.
Biologically, it's a place where a bear can find food, has
enough area to live, a way to reproduce and also denning
habitat. A bear can make a living on the fringe of what we
consider biologically suitable habitat killing cattle for example, but it does not provide long-term viability for bears that
are causing conflicts and will likely result in that bear being
removed from a population.
That's the reason we consider both the biological and
social suitability of habitat. We consider the more suitable
habitats to be those where attractants are more securable,
where there are a lot of remote areas, where the potential
for conflict is low. Whether you are dealing with tigers in
India or lions in Africa, the human component is critical to
make sure we can maintain these animals on the landscape.
We have to look at it as a balance of conserving wildlife and
serving people, and we have to try to find a place where it
works for both.

38 | December 2020

All we have to do is look at
observations of females with cubs,
their location and document the
number of bears we're seeing at
the core, and that hasn't changed
in the last 10 to 15-plus years.

This culvert trap, baited with the hind quarter of a road-killed mule deer, is one
of the many ways the Wyoming Game and Fish Department traps grizzly bears to
monitor their health and possibly relocate them to other areas. All bait is tested for
chronic wasting disease before being used in the field. (WGFD photo)

Wyoming Wildlife magazine

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wyoming Wildlife magazine