MDIFW Bear Den Crew Wraps Up Another Successful Season

 

 MDIFW Bear Den Crew Wraps Up Another Successful Season

The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife’s bear den crew has just completed its annual den visits as part of Maine’s Black Bear Monitoring Program.

The crew visited a total of 82 dens and handled 180 bears between early January and late March.

 

The program, which began as a study in 1975 and was redirected and intensified in 1982, monitors between 80 and 100 radio-collared females each year in three study areas. There are currently 93 bears that have active collars.

 

These bears are visited each winter in their dens, allowing the bear den crew to determine how many cubs each female has given birth to.

 

 

The crew, led by Bear Biologist Randy Cross, is able to find out how many cubs survive to one year of age, called yearlings, the following winter when the bears return to the den with their mother.

 

Biological data is also collected by weighing bears and monitoring survival and movements through radio-telemetry.

 

All cubs and yearlings are marked and given ear tags for identification purposes. Female yearlings are equipped with their own radio-collars so the Department can follow them throughout their lives after they leave their mothers the following summer.

 

While the number of bears harvested by hunters each year is known, the number dying from other causes must be determined by our research. Data collected from radio-collared females in each study area is used to represent females living in similar habitat conditions across the state.

 

The Black Bear Monitoring Program allows the Department to observe population trends in order to maintain a stable bear population.

 

With an estimated 31,000 bears, Maine has the highest population of black bears in the lower 48 U.S. states. MDIFW’s study of black bears is one of the most extensive, comprehensive and longest standing bear studies in North America.

 

The bear monitoring program provides information to biologists that is necessary to manage the bear population.

 

In addition to Randy Cross, this year's bear den crew included Phil Adams, Lisa Bates and John Wood.