Home Range and Habitat Use of Brown Bears in the Southwestern Oshima Peninsula, Hokkaido

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Movement, home range, and habitat use of 10 (7 M and 3 F) brown bears (Ursus arctos yesoensis) were investigated by radiotracking in southwestern Oshima Peninsula, Hokkaido, from May 1987 through May 1990. The annual home-range size was 28.1-39.1 km2 for 1 female. Male home-range size was larger than that of females, although no males were monitored throughout the year. Lower deciduous natural forest areas such as beech-oak (Fagus crenata)-(Quercus monoglica var. grosseserrata) forest and maple-linden (Acer mono)-(Tilia japonica) forest were used by bears intensively, but subalpine areas such as sasa-birch (Sasa kurilensis or S. senanensis)-(Betula ermani) forest and sasa community were rarely used and usage was restricted. Food availablilty could influence the habitat selection by the bears.