Black Bear Management and Research

Publications & Reports

• Black Bear Management and Harvest Reports
• Bear Research Grant Reports and Publications

Management

Much of the information on black bears is acquired from hunters through the sealing process, where hunters bring hides and skulls in for inspection and sealing and provide information on the harvest. Skull size data are an indicator of some change in the population or in hunter effort.

The tendency for black bears to take advantage of human food or garbage as alternative foods has been the greatest management problem within the Juneau area. ADF&G provides the public with bear information and proper waste disposal and has been working to teach the public how to reduce attractions for bears.

West Side of Cook Inlet (GMU 16): The management goal is to provide the greatest opportunity to participate in hunting black bears and to reduce the overall population of black bears in the unit in order to increase moose calf survival.

In the 20-mile radius of McGrath (in Unit 19D East), predator population manipulations and other management actions are being tested, including capture and removal of black bears, in order to provide more moose for subsistence needs. The management objective is to maintain reported harvest of at least 30 black bears in Unit 19D East as part of the intensive management program.

A DNA-based mark–recapture estimate technique was recently completed in the Fortymile, Charley, and Ladue River drainages (GMU 20E).

Research

In some areas, tetracycline biomarking and noninvasive DNA sampling is being used as means of estimating black bear populations. DNA-based mark-recapture population estimates using barbed wire bear hair traps with scent lures have been implemented in a few areas.

In the Upper Tanana and White River drainages blueberry abundance has been monitored at five permanent blueberry sample areas to compare berry production between years and sites, and to evaluate effects of berry abundance on bear harvest and problem bear incidents. A DNA-based mark–recapture population estimate using barbed wire bear hair traps with scent lures was conducted in 2006.

Biologists would like to know more about Alaska’s black bears. Research is needed to identify possible correlations between sealing data and population trends. A better understanding of the short- and long-term impacts of clearcut logging on black bear populations is needed. Some estimate of black bear mortality as a result of wounding loss is needed.

Interactive Maps

• Anchorage Urban Bears Story Map

Additional Research Projects

• Grizzly and Black Bear Distribution and Abundance Relative to the 2004 Wildfires in Eastern Interior Alaska: Possible Intensive Management Consequences
• Grizzly bear use of the North Slope oilfields and surrounding region
• Population demographics of Kenai brown bears

Project Information

Grizzly and Black Bear Distribution and Abundance Relative to the 2004 Wildfires in Eastern Interior Alaska: Possible Intensive Management Consequences

Project 4.39, Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Grant Project. Duration: July 1, 2008–June 30, 2014. Principal Investigator: Craig Gardner, Fairbanks.

Understanding habitat and human use factors that influence grizzly bear (Ursus arctos) and possibly black bear (Ursus americanus) distribution and abundance are fundamental in developing suitable intensive management and adaptive management programs in Interior Alaska. The spatial structure of a grizzly bear population has direct bearing on its role as a predator. During summer 2004, wildfires disturbed 31% of the area within the Upper Yukon/Tanana Bear Control area (UYTBC) and research conducted during summer 2006 (Gardner et al. unpublished data) indicates that grizzly bear numbers remained stable but distribution was no longer uniform. In order to design future grizzly bear and moose management direction in that area and possibly in other areas in the Interior prone to wildfire, we need to comprehend bear and moose population and distribution reactions and trends relative to wildfire. Expected results include:

1. Describe grizzly and black bears in relation to large wildfire disturbance in the UYTBC in GMU 20E.
2. Evaluate the effects of grizzly and black bear population and distribution trends on moose population growth and composition.
3. Evaluate the effects of grizzly bear distribution on black bear population size and distribution.
4. Develop hypotheses that will improve our understanding and management of grizzly bears under Intensive management in Interior Alaska.