Edible ant availability and distribution as resources for the Asiatic black bear

The Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus) is a generalist omnivore consuming a wide range of food items, including ants (family Formicidae) and other social insects during summer. The distribution of ant resources is thought to influence habitat selection by Asiatic black bear. We investigated the distribution of ant resources during summer in bear habitat in […]

Noninvasive genetic assessment of sloth bear diversity and population structure in Nepal

The genetic diversity of wildlife populations is crucial in maintaining their fitness and resilience to environmental changes and disease. Despite their rarity, ecological importance, and being an endangered species of public concern, information on sloth bears (Melursus ursinus) from Nepal is limited, and they are yet to receive conservation priority. To address this gap, we […]

Quantifying recovery of British Columbia’s South Selkirk grizzly bear population

Small, isolated wildlife populations are often at great conservation risk. Quantitative monitoring of their conservation status over time and evidence of recovery is relatively rare. We carried out population surveys of grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) pre– (2005) and post– (2020–2021) conservation management, to assess the efficacy of strategic measures applied to the at-risk Canadian South […]

Sloth bear denning behavior in eastern Karnataka, India

Eastern Karnataka, India, has abundant sloth bear (Melursus ursinus) habitat made up of rocky scrub jungle and an abundance of naturally occurring caves, which the bears use for resting (day) and natal or neonatal dens. We deployed cameras on active dens from 2014 to 2018 and collected sloth bear resting and maternal denning behavior. We […]

Mapping habitat suitability of the brown bear in Artvin-Şavşat region, Turkey

We aimed to build seasonal habitat suitability models and maps for brown bear (Ursus arctos), which are distributed in the Artvin-Şavşat region of northeastern Turkey. Between May 2018 and May 2020, 200 camera traps were deployed using an opportunistic camera-trap method. Over 280,000 images were captured during 121,140 camera-trap days, with images including 1,860 brown […]

Bonding behavior of sister brown bears with different-aged offspring

This paper documents and describes the behavior of 2 sibling female brown bears (Ursus arctos) and their cubs as they bonded at Brooks River in Katmai National Park, Alaska, USA. Between mid- August and October 2022 the adult female bears and their cubs behaved much like a single family. The same-aged mothers each had a […]