Latest news with #grizzlybears
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Mountain roads and coal mines cut grizzly bears off from habitat, study finds
A new study found that grizzly bears have had to change their movements across the Canadian Rockies, becoming more constrained over time as they avoid human development like coal mines, highways, large reservoirs and towns. Analyzing 20 years worth of GPS collar data from over 100 grizzly bears, the research, published in Conservation Science and Practice, found that humans have had a significant impact on the way bears move across an 85,000 square kilometre landscape in southern B.C. and Alberta. "There already has been quite a bit of connectivity loss for grizzly bears in the southern Canadian Rocky Mountains," said Eric Palm, the study's lead author and a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Montana. Any new coal mines, towns or highway roads would create more barriers for grizzly bears to move around and find food, he said — potentially having bigger ramifications down the road. "Since that baseline is already pretty high, any additional losses could eventually have population-level effects for grizzly bears," he said. In January, the province lifted a moratorium on coal mining in the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains, opening the door for suspended projects to resume. More human development on the horizon — like new and resuming coal mine projects — could further threaten bear habitats, Palm said. "In B.C. and Alberta there are a lot of proposed coal mine expansions of existing mines, and then there are also some new mines that are being proposed," he said. "Building new coal mines in each one of these areas … expands the footprint of human infrastructure [which] can affect connectivity by usually inhibiting animals moving from one habitat patch to another." Looking for food, finding trouble Using computer simulations to predict how more development will impact bears in the future, the study found that those habitat patches would be further disconnected, restricting movement. Palm explained that grizzly bears in the Canadian Rockies rarely venture out into the prairies, staying confined to the mountains. But there, bears are more constrained, as humans typically develop infrastructure in valley bottoms where some food sources thrive. The researchers found that when food was scarce, both male and female bears risked coming closer to roads to search for it with forest along roadsides being home to attractive foods such as grasses, flowering plants and buffaloberries. Tal Avgar, a wildlife ecologist and assistant professor at the University of British Columbia who contributed to the study, said a "grizzly bear that wants to live a long and happy life needs to avoid humans as much as possible." The most recent count in Alberta shows 235 grizzly bear mortalities were caused by humans in the period between 2013 and 2022. Most known grizzly bear deaths in the province are caused by humans. In May, two female grizzly bears were killed by trains in separate incidents in Banff National Park. "Sometimes humans are associated with where the food is, but in general, we know that bears would like to avoid being close to humans. They would like to avoid being on infrastructure used by humans," Avgar said. A potential threat to bear populations "If genes are being inhibited from flowing from one area… eventually some of these populations could become more isolated from each other," Palm speculated. Though this study was limited in scope to the data on grizzly movements, Palm said there was room to further research the potential for new infrastructure to limit not just the bears' mobility, but also how that could impact their breeding. Although the threat of new development is concerning, Palm said much work is being done to help increase habitat connectivity in the Rockies, such as wildlife crossings over or under roads that help animals move across human infrastructure. "Now there is a lot of vulnerability between different species and how much they adopt using these crossings, and sometimes these crossings are very successful, and sometimes less so," Avgar said. While wildlife crossings are still helpful in building habitat connections, Avgar said, that solution is limited to roads. "There are definitely situations where we can't actually provide those crossing structures [such as] human settlement or a mine," he said. "We can't build a bridge above it. It's an area that the bears are going to avoid to some extent. "The main thing that we need to keep in mind is that when we plan development, we want to plan it at the large landscape scale, keeping in mind that we still allow populations of animals to move across that landscape, and if we blocked one path, maybe leave other paths open for future development."
CBC
3 days ago
- Science
- CBC
Mountain roads and coal mines cut grizzly bears off from habitat, study finds
A new study found that grizzly bears have had to change their movements across the Canadian Rockies, becoming more constrained over time as they avoid human development like coal mines, highways, large reservoirs and towns. Analyzing 20 years worth of GPS collar data from over 100 grizzly bears, the research, published in Conservation Science and Practice, found that humans have had a significant impact on the way bears move across an 85,000 square kilometre landscape in southern B.C. and Alberta. "There already has been quite a bit of connectivity loss for grizzly bears in the southern Canadian Rocky Mountains," said Eric Palm, the study's lead author and a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Montana. Any new coal mines, towns or highway roads would create more barriers for grizzly bears to move around and find food, he said — potentially having bigger ramifications down the road. "Since that baseline is already pretty high, any additional losses could eventually have population-level effects for grizzly bears," he said. In January, the province lifted a moratorium on coal mining in the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains, opening the door for suspended projects to resume. More human development on the horizon — like new and resuming coal mine projects — could further threaten bear habitats, Palm said. "In B.C. and Alberta there are a lot of proposed coal mine expansions of existing mines, and then there are also some new mines that are being proposed," he said. "Building new coal mines in each one of these areas … expands the footprint of human infrastructure [which] can affect connectivity by usually inhibiting animals moving from one habitat patch to another." Looking for food, finding trouble Using computer simulations to predict how more development will impact bears in the future, the study found that those habitat patches would be further disconnected, restricting movement. Palm explained that grizzly bears in the Canadian Rockies rarely venture out into the prairies, staying confined to the mountains. But there, bears are more constrained, as humans typically develop infrastructure in valley bottoms where some food sources thrive. The researchers found that when food was scarce, both male and female bears risked coming closer to roads to search for it with forest along roadsides being home to attractive foods such as grasses, flowering plants and buffaloberries. Tal Avgar, a wildlife ecologist and assistant professor at the University of British Columbia who contributed to the study, said a "grizzly bear that wants to live a long and happy life needs to avoid humans as much as possible." The most recent count in Alberta shows 235 grizzly bear mortalities were caused by humans in the period between 2013 and 2022. Most known grizzly bear deaths in the province are caused by humans. In May, two female grizzly bears were killed by trains in separate incidents in Banff National Park. "Sometimes humans are associated with where the food is, but in general, we know that bears would like to avoid being close to humans. They would like to avoid being on infrastructure used by humans," Avgar said. A potential threat to bear populations "If genes are being inhibited from flowing from one area… eventually some of these populations could become more isolated from each other," Palm speculated. Though this study was limited in scope to the data on grizzly movements, Palm said there was room to further research the potential for new infrastructure to limit not just the bears' mobility, but also how that could impact their breeding. Although the threat of new development is concerning, Palm said much work is being done to help increase habitat connectivity in the Rockies, such as wildlife crossings over or under roads that help animals move across human infrastructure. "Now there is a lot of vulnerability between different species and how much they adopt using these crossings, and sometimes these crossings are very successful, and sometimes less so," Avgar said. While wildlife crossings are still helpful in building habitat connections, Avgar said, that solution is limited to roads. "There are definitely situations where we can't actually provide those crossing structures [such as] human settlement or a mine," he said. "We can't build a bridge above it. It's an area that the bears are going to avoid to some extent. "The main thing that we need to keep in mind is that when we plan development, we want to plan it at the large landscape scale, keeping in mind that we still allow populations of animals to move across that landscape, and if we blocked one path, maybe leave other paths open for future development."
CTV News
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- CTV News
‘Big milestone': Saskatoon Zoo's grizzlies turn 20
The Saskatoon Zoo held a special celebration on Wednesday for Koda and Mistaya, a pair of grizzly bears who have just turned 20. Dozens of families came out to line the fence and get a look at the two bears as they enjoyed a slight change from their usual days. 'We're really, really excited with the turnout,' said Jeff Mitchell, Saskatoon Zoo manager. 'We love that, our bears are 20 years old.' The bears came to the zoo 17 years ago after being orphaned in Alberta. Mitchell says they've already lived a long life by bear standards. 'In the wild, bears will live anywhere from 15 to 18 years,' he said. 'So to reach that 20 year milestone, it's a really big milestone for them. And we're just really excited to be able to share our passion and our love for these animals with the community.' Kids were able to learn more about the bears and sign a birthday card for them. Saskatoon Zoo's grizzlies turn 20 (John Flatters/CTV News) While there was cake for the visitors, there was cake for the bears too. 'Well, it looks like they've been swimming,' said Emerey, a zoo visitor. 'And it looks like one was eating watermelon. The other was eating birthday cake.' Some kids were even celebrating the same birthday as the bears. 'It's my birthday,' said Nina, another visitor to see the bears. 'I was going to get face painted, but the line is really long. But this is the best birthday ever.' It was also a chance for the zoo to announce plans for a new six acre bear habitat. 'What we're really looking forward to is building the new bear habitat,' said Mitchell. 'And we're building the new bear habitat to polar bear standards, so that when Koda and Mistaya are no longer with us, we're able to bring polar bears and look to the future.' He says over the next year the Zoo Foundation will be fundraising, and the hope is that construction starts in the next year and a half to two years time. Meanwhile, visitors can get behind the scenes tours to learn more about the bears on Saturdays and Sundays.
CBC
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- CBC
A 20th birthday celebration for bear brothers at the Saskatoon Forestry Farm and Zoo
The Saskatoon Forestry Farm and Zoo's two grizzly bears, Koda and Mistaya, turn 20 this year. The zoo is hosting events all week to celebrate.
New York Times
6 days ago
- General
- New York Times
Grizzlies Were Raiding Montana Farms. Then Came Some Formidable Dogs.
The grizzly bears feasted on piles of spilled wheat and barley. They broke into grain bins. They helped themselves to apples from family orchards. Sometimes they massacred chickens or picked off calves. Once nearly eradicated from the lower 48 United States, grizzlies are growing in population and spreading onto Montana's plains, where they had not roamed in perhaps a century. In their travels, they've acquired a fondness for the good eating to be found in farmyards. This is a grave problem for both humans and bears. The safety of farmers and their families is at stake, and so is the survival of the bears, which could get themselves killed by threatening people's lives and livelihoods. Enter the bear dogs. This one's name is Patton, and he's a Turkish Boz shepherd. Tell Us About Solutions Where You Live Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
