Behavioral Persistence in Captive Bears: A Response to Criswell and Galbreath
Behavioral Persistence in Captive Bears: A Critique
Characteristics of Sloth Bear Attacks and Human Casualties in North Bilaspur Forest Division, Chhattisgarh, India
Sloth bears (Melursus ursinus) are endemic to the Indian subcontinent and frequently come into conflict with humans. In the North Bilaspur Forest Division, a total of 137 attacks (resulting in 11 deaths) occurred between April 1998 and December 2000. Most (54%) incidents took place during the monsoon season. Attacks occurred (45%) early in the morning […]
Activity Patterns of Urban American Black Bears in the San Gabriel Mountains of Southern California
Both the American black bear (Ursus americanus) population in the San Gabriel Mountains of Los Angeles County, California, USA, and the human population at the base of these mountains have grown, and human-bear interactions are common. Little is known about the habits of urban bears in southern California. From July 1998 to December 1999, I […]
Assessing American Black Bear Habitat in the Mobile-Tensaw Delta of Southwestern Alabama
American black bears (Ursus americanus) have been extirpated from all but a few areas in southwestern Alabama, and the remaining habitat is being rapidly lost to development. Remnant bear populations exist near extensive (>125,000 ha) bottomland hardwood forests in the Mobile-Tensaw Delta (MTD), but those bottomland areas are rarely used by bears. Reintroduction of black […]
American Black Bears and Bee Yard Depredation at Okefenokee Swamp, Georgia
We studied American black bears (Ursus americanus), on the northwest periphery of Okefenokee Swamp in southeast Georgia, to assess landowner attitudes toward bears, estimate the extent of damage to commercial honey bee operations by bears, and evaluate methods to reduce bear depredations to apiaries. We collected 8,351 black bear radiolocations and identified 51 bee yards […]
Delineating Priority Habitat Areas for the Conservation of Andean Bears in Northern Ecuador
We sought to identify priority areas for the conservation of Andean bear (Tremarctos ornatus) habitat in the northern portion of the eastern Andean cordillera in Ecuador. The study area included páramo and montane forest habitats within the Antisana and Cayambe-Coca ecological reserves, and unprotected areas north of these reserves with elevations ranging from 1,800 to […]
Seasonal and Diurnal Dynamics of Glucocorticoids and Behavior in Giant Pandas
Because of the suppressive effect of stress on reproduction and health, it is important to evaluate potential stressors that may compromise captive breeding programs for endangered species. However, behavioral and physiological measures of stress are sometimes difficult to interpret, and their relationship to stress can be obscured by factors unrelated to stress, such as seasonal […]
Seasonal Differences in Spermatogenesis, Testicular Mass and Serum Testosterone Concentrations in the Grizzly Bear
The objectives of this study were to determine whether there are seasonal changes in spermatogenesis for pre-pubertal and post-pubertal grizzly bears (Ursus arctos horribilis), and investigate the seasonal association between testis mass and serum testosterone (T) concentrations for post-pubertal grizzly bears from the continental US from May through October. Testes from 25 grizzly bears were […]
Age Variation in Gross and Histological Characteristics of the Testis and Epididymis in Grizzly Bears
Grizzly bears (Ursus arctos horribilis) in Montana and Wyoming killed between 1978-95 reached puberty between the ages of 3.5-5.5 years, consistent with similar studies on brown bears in Hokkaido (Japan), Alaska, and Yukon. Our study considers age-related variation in testicular and epididymal characteristics for 14 pre-pubertal and 11 post-pubertal grizzly bears. Testis mass increased 200% […]
