Controversy Centers on Grizzly Bear Count

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The following is portion of an article from WyoFile.com:

by Kelsey Dayton

How grizzly bears are counted and what the population number actually is and what it’s doing (growing, declining or remaining stable) is a matter of contention as efforts move forward to remove the animals from the Endangered Species list.

Frank van Manen, leader of the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team, presented a rebuttal of a 2013 report that questioned methods and findings about grizzly populations, to the Yellowstone Ecosystem Subcommittee of the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee at its meeting in Jackson last week.

The paper, written by Daniel Doak and Kerry Cutler and published in Conservation Letters, re-examined data sets suggesting increases in the greater Yellowstone’s grizzly population. It concluded bear numbers likely increased far less than believed and that increasing observation efforts influenced the population’s trajectory. It also suggests that analysis isn’t accurate enough to allow firm conclusions about the dynamics or status of the population.

The grizzly bear study team reports a population of about 740 bears in the Greater Yellowstone, and population growth that is growing at zero (stable) to 2 percent. It also reported that 2013 saw a record number of females, 58, with cubs-of-the-year.

CLICK HERE to read the remainder of this article.

 

Source:  WyoFile

Posted by Haylie Shipp

 

 

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