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 […]
Tolerance for grizzly bears and trust in management among residents of the Bitterroot Ecosystem, Idaho
Grizzly bears (Ursus arctos horribilis) were extirpated from central Idaho’s Bitterroot Ecosystem (BE) in the United States by the 1940s. Since a failed attempt to reintroduce grizzlies to the BE in the 1990s, individuals have been documented in the region since 2007, indicating potential natural recovery in the future. Moreover, as of 2023, the U.S. […]
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 […]
Denning black bear response to anthropogenic disturbance and implications for cub survival in Florida
Wildlife research and management can be disruptive to wildlife. By advancing our understanding of the impacts of these activities, we can reduce adverse effects, improve decision-making, and enhance the outcomes of research and management. During 2017–2019, we observed the responses of denning female American black bears (Ursus americanus) to 3 types of routine research and […]
Activity patterns of the Asiatic black bear in the Russian Far East based on camera-trap data
Species’ activity patterns are driven by the need to meet basic requirements such as food, social interactions, movement, and rest. A variety of biotic and abiotic factors often influence these behaviors. From 2011 to 2021 we used camera-trap data to describe and compare the seasonal and daily activity patterns of the relatively poorly studied Asiatic […]
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 […]
Changing the narrative on human–bear conflicts by standardizing bear management terms
Human–wildlife interactions and conflicts are increasing in many parts of the world. The ability of North American wildlife agencies to accurately record information about human–wildlife conflict and then share and compare those data is important for agency conservation efforts, inter-agency communications, and public messaging. Agency bear managers and researchers record human–bear conflict data and depend […]
Historical range of brown bears
Brown bears (Ursus arctos) are widely distributed in North America, Europe, and Asia; however, their range has decreased. They are categorized as being a species of Least Concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list, but some fragmented, small populations are close to extirpation. Importantly, the global historical range of brown […]
Ursus: A history of the journal
The International Association for Bear Research and Management has a publishing history dating back to 1968 with proceedings associated with their conferences. To improve the consistency and timeliness of publications, the peer-reviewed journal Ursus was established in the late 1990s and has become an important source for papers on all eight ursid species. This paper […]