Grizzly bear digging sites for Hedysarum sulphurescens roots in southwestern Alberta

1984 ◽  
Vol 62 (12) ◽  
pp. 2571-2575 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne C. Holcroft ◽  
Stephen Herrero

Characteristics of sites where Hedysarum sulphurescens Rydb. roots were extensively, less extensively, or not dug by grizzly bears Ursus arctos horribilis Ord. were analyzed in relation to topographic, vegetative, soil, and geologic features. Discriminant function analysis significantly separated dug and undug sites, but did not separate extensively and less extensively dug sites. Ease of breaking the soil surface, presence of shaly rock fragments, loose cobble and gravel, and steep slopes were characteristic of dug sites. The abundance of H. sulphurescens appeared less important than the loose nature of the substrate indicating that digging time was important in optimizing energetics.

1976 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 341-347 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles S. Churcher ◽  
Alan V. Morgan

The distal end of the left humerus of a grizzly bear, Ursus arctos, has been recovered from above the Early Wisconsin Sunnybrook Till at Woodbridge, Ontario, from the same horizon that previously has yielded remains of the woolly mammoth, Mammuthus primigenius. The age of these specimens is estimated at 40 000–50 000 years BP, within the mid-Wisconsin, Port Talbot Interstadial. The only other recognized Canadian record of a grizzly bear east of Manitoba is from a gravel sequence at Barrie, near Lake Simcoe, Ontario, dated from a bone fragment to 11 700 ± 250 years BP. A specimen recovered in Toronto in 1913 from an Early Wisconsin horizon is also considered to represent the grizzly. Bears of the grizzly type, Ursus arctos-horribilis were present in Ontario before and after the Early and Late Wisconsin ice advances.


1998 ◽  
Vol 76 (2) ◽  
pp. 221-227 ◽  
Author(s):  
Don White, Jr. ◽  
Katherine C Kendall ◽  
Harold D Picton

Grizzly bears (Ursus arctos horribilis) consume army cutworm moths (Euxoa auxiliaris) from late June through mid-September at alpine moth aggregation sites in Glacier National Park, Montana. To better understand the importance of army cutworm moths to grizzly bears, we determined the sex and age classes and minimum numbers of grizzly bears foraging at known alpine moth aggregation sites, and documented the timing and use patterns of grizzly bears foraging in these areas. A minimum of 36 grizzly bears were observed 106 times feeding at 6 of 9 known moth aggregation sites from late June through mid-September in 1992-1995; no bears were observed on moth sites in 1993. Bears fed on moth aggregations disproportionately more at elevations >2561 m, on slopes between 31° and 45°, and on southwest-facing aspects. Lone adult grizzly bears appeared to be underrepresented and subadults overrepresented at moth sites. Moths are highly digestible; all parts are digested except for the exoskeleton. We propose that army cutworm moths are an important, high-quality, preferred summer and early-fall food for grizzly bears in Glacier National Park. We do not present any data that demonstrate an increase in the importance of moths when other foods fail.


2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Eduardo J. Fernandez ◽  
Ellen Yoakum ◽  
Nathan Andrews

Captive grizzly bears, like their wild counterparts, engage in considerable variability in their seasonal and daily activity. We documented the year-long activity of two grizzly bears located at the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, Washington. We found that behaviors emerged in relation to month-to-month, seasonal, and time of day (hour-to-hour) observations, and events that occurred on exhibit, such as daily feedings. Seventeen behaviors split into seven classes of behavior were observed during their on-exhibit time over a 13-month period. Inactivity was the most frequent class of responses recorded, with most inactive behaviors occurring during the winter months. Both stereotypic and non-stereotypic activity emerged during the spring and summer months, with stereotypic activity occurring most frequently in the morning and transitioning to non-stereotypic activity in the latter part of the day. Results are discussed with respect to how captive grizzly bear behaviors relate to their natural seasonal and daily activity, as well as how events, such as feeding times and enrichment deliveries, can be used to optimize overall captive bear welfare.


2017 ◽  
Vol 95 (11) ◽  
pp. 797-807 ◽  
Author(s):  
D.R. Rivet ◽  
O.L. Nelson ◽  
C.A. Vella ◽  
H.T. Jansen ◽  
C.T. Robbins

Food sources for North America’s grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis Ord, 1815) population have changed as habitats have fragmented, altering available resources and putting bears in contact with unnatural foods. Bears have evolved mechanisms to tolerate obesity, and do not develop adverse health consequences despite storing massive amounts of body fat. Captive adult grizzly bears were used to determine the effects of dietary fat on health. Group 1 was fed a diet high in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) wherein 9.5% of available calories came from saturated fatty acids (SFA). Group 2 was fed a diet wherein 28.8% of calories came from SFA. Plasma fatty acids, serum lipid profiles, insulin, inflammatory markers, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and cardiac function parameters were measured. Serum lipids, SFA, and insulin did not differ between the two groups, although omega-3 fatty acids differed. Bears eating the SFA diet had significantly higher circulating adiponectin, interleukin-7 and interleukin-15, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha. Mild, asymptomatic systolic and diastolic dysfunctions were detected by strain echocardiography in the SFA group. The SFA diet group exhibited higher diastolic arterial pressures. Even though mild metabolic derangements were observed, grizzly bears were remarkably resistant to metabolic effects of diets high in SFA.


2013 ◽  
Vol 91 (4) ◽  
pp. 227-234 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marius Robu ◽  
Jennifer K. Fortin ◽  
Michael P. Richards ◽  
Charles C. Schwartz ◽  
Jonathan G. Wynn ◽  
...  

The proposed dietary pattern of extinct Late Pleistocene cave bears (Ursus spelaeus Rosenmüller, 1794) has become controversial, as some authors have suggested that they were strictly vegetarian, whereas others maintain they were omnivores that at times ate large amounts of animal protein. We evaluated these alternatives by compiling stable isotope data of carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) from the bone collagen of adult European cave bears from the Late Pleistocene (Marine Isotopic Stage 3). The data include previously published analyses and additional data from the southeastern European (Carpathian) sites of Cioclovina, Muierii, Oase, and Urşilor. The cave bear isotopic values from bone collagen were compared with those from hair keratin occurring in grizzly bears (Ursus arctos horribilis Ord, 1815) collected from 1989 to 2009 in the western United States (Yellowstone National Park). The Yellowstone bears have access to a wide diversity of plants and animals, such that their diets can range from vegetarian to carnivorous. Thus, there was considerable δ13C and δ15N variation among the grizzly bear isotopic values, and the cave bear isotopic variation was encompassed within the overall grizzly bear isotopic distribution. More importantly, the δ15N distributions, reflecting principally trophic level, were not different between the cave bears and the grizzly bears; the cave bear values are, on average, slightly higher or lower than those of the grizzly bears, depending on the criteria for inclusion in the comparisons. It is therefore no longer appropriate to view Late Pleistocene cave bears as strictly or even predominantly vegetarian but as flexible omnivores within their diverse communities.


Author(s):  
Bethany Marie Parsons ◽  
Nicholas C Coops ◽  
Sean P Kearney ◽  
Cole Burton ◽  
Trisalyn A Nelson ◽  
...  

Anthropogenic disturbances, including roads, are known to influence animal habitat selection and mortality. In this study, we consider the role of sensory perception in understanding why and how animals respond to disturbances. Our goal was to investigate the effect of visual perception (visibility) around roads on grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis Ord, 1815) habitat selection and mortality in Alberta, Canada. We used detailed topographic and vegetation data from airborne Light Detection and Ranging (lidar) to estimate visibility around roads. We modelled habitat selection as a function of road visibility and environmental variables using GPS telemetry data from 39 grizzly bears and integrated step selection analysis (iSSA). Finally, we assessed mortality risk in visible areas by comparing habitat selection between grizzly bears that died and those that survived. We found that grizzly bears were less likely to select visible areas when moving slowly or resting, but more likely to select visible areas when traveling. We found that grizzly bears that survived selected for areas farther from roads than grizzly bears that died. However, no difference in selection for visible areas was observed. An exploratory analysis showed that grizzly bear mortalities commonly occurred in visible areas. Our findings highlight the importance of sensory perception in understanding animal behaviour.


1980 ◽  
Vol 19 (04) ◽  
pp. 205-209
Author(s):  
L. A. Abbott ◽  
J. B. Mitton

Data taken from the blood of 262 patients diagnosed for malabsorption, elective cholecystectomy, acute cholecystitis, infectious hepatitis, liver cirrhosis, or chronic renal disease were analyzed with three numerical taxonomy (NT) methods : cluster analysis, principal components analysis, and discriminant function analysis. Principal components analysis revealed discrete clusters of patients suffering from chronic renal disease, liver cirrhosis, and infectious hepatitis, which could be displayed by NT clustering as well as by plotting, but other disease groups were poorly defined. Sharper resolution of the same disease groups was attained by discriminant function analysis.


Diversity ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 18
Author(s):  
Long Kim Pham ◽  
Bang Van Tran ◽  
Quy Tan Le ◽  
Trung Thanh Nguyen ◽  
Christian C. Voigt

This study is the first step towards more systematic monitoring of urban bat fauna in Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries by collecting bat echolocation call parameters in Ho Chi Minh and Tra Vinh cities. We captured urban bats and then recorded echolocation calls after releasing in a tent. Additional bat’s echolocation calls from the free-flying bats were recorded at the site where we captured bat. We used the obtained echolocation call parameters for a discriminant function analysis to test the accuracy of classifying these species based on their echolocation call parameters. Data from this pilot work revealed a low level of diversity for the studied bat assemblages. Additionally, the discriminant function analysis successfully classified bats to four bat species with an accuracy of >87.4%. On average, species assignments were correct for all calls from Taphozous melanopogon (100% success rate), for 70% of calls from Pipistrellus javanicus, for 80.8% of calls from Myotis hasseltii and 67.3% of calls from Scotophilus kuhlii. Our study comprises the first quantitative description of echolocation call parameters for urban bats of Vietnam. The success in classifying urban bats based on their echolocation call parameters provides a promising baseline for monitoring the effect of urbanization on bat assemblages in Vietnam and potentially also other Southeast Asian countries.


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