Thirty-five black bears (Ursus americanus) were captured (22 males, 13 females), 25 were radio-collared, 4,224 telemetric observations, and 1,112 radio triangulations were made from ground and air between September 1977 and March 1980 in connection with a study of the interactions between humans and bears in Michigan's Lower Peninsula (mainly in Crawford, Kalkaska, Missaukee, and Roscommon counties). Identified positive effects of humans on bears included changes in hunting regulations possibly resulting in an increasing bear population; bears frequently using oil pipeline right-of-ways, oil well service lanes, and lumber roads as travel routes; early-successional vegetational stages induced by roadside cutting, commercial lumbering, clear-cutting deer (Odocoileus virginianus) management projects, and controlled burns; and bee-keeping. Negative effects included loss of habitat due to human encroachment, heavy automobile traffic, hunting aided by service roads, marked bears (11 of 28) and females with cubs being shot, and bears which fled their dens when approached. Questionable impacts included proximity of den sites to centers of human activity, closure of most sanitary landfills, and disturbance by small game and deer gun hunters. Unknown impacts included those of oil wells, snowmobile activity near denned bears, and contact between humans and bears. Data were insufficient to indicate whether a high incidence of periodontal disease (11 of 35 bears in varying degrees of severity) affected bear behavior, although diseased animals suffered tooth loss and jaw and gum atrophy. Twenty-three marked animals were sighted and reported 63 different times by the public. Forty-six nuisance and damage complaints were reported in the study area between August 1977 and July 1980. Average home range for males (≥ 6 months telemetric data) was 150.4 km2 (SD = 96.6 km2); for females, 68.9 km2 (SD = 64.0 km2). Six adult males made seasonal summer treks of 140, 105, 50, 47, 42, and 32 km from fall-winter-spring home ranges, returning before denning.
- Volume 5
- Issue
- Pages 20-33
- Publication Date 1 January 1983
- DOI 10.2307/3872516
- File Size 500.58 KB
- Download