May 2023 - 41

Black bears and coyotes around
a dead animal carcass make for
some interesting animal behavior.
(Photo by Wes Uncapher)
LEARNED OR INSTINCTUAL?
Dan Thompson, Wyoming Game and Fish
Department large carnivore supervisor, said
much of a bear's behavior is instinctual mixed
with learned. Thompson said much of this
behavior is sometimes considered as learned
through transferred behavior. Transferred
behavior can be observed by the young and
mimicked. Transferable behaviors may be
passed on through genetics, region-specific
and situational-specific instances.
There are other instances that reinforce
Thompson's thoughts. The black bear's bigger
and more legendary cousin, the grizzly, also
is known for its learning aptitude. Evidence
is illustrated through grizzly country where
signs warn visitors to lock up food and carry
bear deterrent.
Maternal females teach their young by
example. This includes places to obtain
foods as well as behaviors that are unique
to individual bears such as feeding on army
cutworm moths at insect aggregation sites
or hunting elk calves when they are vulnerable.
Alternatively, grizzlies can learn to raid
campgrounds and dumpsters in search of a
meal, or saunter onto a porch to eat dog food
and drink from hummingbird feeders among
many other troublesome learned behaviors
and at times, transferred behaviors - this
is why Game and Fish works proactively
to secure attractants and deter this type of
behavior.
While other animals learn from their parents,
bears are an example of one species that
takes on a lot of their parental habits. Bear
cubs spend more time with their moms than
many other species. Black bear cubs stay
with their mother for more than a year, and
grizzly cubs stay with the sow for two years.
Wrestling and play-fighting are some of the
first learned behaviors. Upon leaving their
mothers, bears are well-trained and capable
of tangling with most any foe.
Fighting isn't the only thing bears learn
from their mother. Knowing where and when
to find edible roots and plants is a valuable
skill, along with finding moths under
high-country rocks and boulders as alluded
to earlier. Perhaps they are taught which
fungi are edible and which are poisonous or
perhaps they know these things instinctually.
Wyoming Wildlife | 41
While other animals learn from
their parents, bears are an
example of one species that
takes on a lot of their parental
habits. Bear cubs spend more
time with their moms than many
other species.

May 2023

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