STATE WILDLIFE OFFICIALS APPLAUD GRIZZLY BEAR DNA STUDY
Montana wildlife officials recently praised the four-year federally funded study aimed at determining the number of grizzly bears inhabiting the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem in northwest Montana, one of the last strongholds of the grizzly bear in the lower 48 states.
"The study shows that northwestern Montana’s grizzly bear population is healthy, growing, and genetically diverse," said Jeff Hagener, director of Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks. "For the 765 grizzly bears in the NCDE—more than twice as many as thought to live there just four years ago—it appears the prospects for their long-term survival are excellent."
Of the six established grizzly bear recovery zones in the U.S., the NCDE is the third largest in area, and may now harbor the greatest number of grizzly bears in the country. It is the largest population connected to Canadian grizzly bear populations.
Since 2004, researchers worked in the NCDE to identify grizzly bear population size, trend, survival, and the corridors that link separate grizzly bear populations. Advances in genetic technology allowed the researchers to analyze 34,000 grizzly and black bear hair samples. Each sample was used to identify species, sex, and individuals from DNA extracted from hair caught in strategically placed fences without ever handling a bear. These new techniques, combined with statistical models, allowed the researchers to estimate that 765 grizzly bears inhabit the NCDE, with 470 females among them.
The $4.8 million project, was directed by the U.S. Geological Survey, and carried out by FWP, the U.S. Forest Service, National Parks Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the federal Bureau of Land Management, the Blackfeet Nation, and the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.
In 2004, researchers estimated that about 300 grizzly bears inhabited the northwestern Montana study area. With today's announcement that the area is home to some 765 grizzly bears, FWP officials said the health and size of the population will give wildlife managers more flexibility to transplant grizzlies to augment other populations or take other actions, based on FWP's grizzly bear management plan. Last month, for instance, the fourth bear in the past four years was relocated in the Cabinet Mountain Range as part of the grizzly bear augmentation project currently funded by the Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Foundation.
"Clearly, this threatened species has been well cared for by the people of Montana," Hagener said. "These types of conservation success stories come only with the cooperation of the people who share the landscape with wildlife. Montanans can be proud that they've made room for the ultimate recovery of this important wildlife species."
Hagener noted that NCDE grizzly bears remain federally protected as a threatened species. He said the grizzly bear population could be considered for delisting in a few years if positive population and habitat trends continue to be documented, as was done for the recently delisted Greater Yellowstone grizzly bear population.
-fwp-
Montana wildlife officials recently praised the four-year federally funded study aimed at determining the number of grizzly bears inhabiting the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem in northwest Montana, one of the last strongholds of the grizzly bear in the lower 48 states.
"The study shows that northwestern Montana’s grizzly bear population is healthy, growing, and genetically diverse," said Jeff Hagener, director of Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks. "For the 765 grizzly bears in the NCDE—more than twice as many as thought to live there just four years ago—it appears the prospects for their long-term survival are excellent."
Of the six established grizzly bear recovery zones in the U.S., the NCDE is the third largest in area, and may now harbor the greatest number of grizzly bears in the country. It is the largest population connected to Canadian grizzly bear populations.
Since 2004, researchers worked in the NCDE to identify grizzly bear population size, trend, survival, and the corridors that link separate grizzly bear populations. Advances in genetic technology allowed the researchers to analyze 34,000 grizzly and black bear hair samples. Each sample was used to identify species, sex, and individuals from DNA extracted from hair caught in strategically placed fences without ever handling a bear. These new techniques, combined with statistical models, allowed the researchers to estimate that 765 grizzly bears inhabit the NCDE, with 470 females among them.
The $4.8 million project, was directed by the U.S. Geological Survey, and carried out by FWP, the U.S. Forest Service, National Parks Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the federal Bureau of Land Management, the Blackfeet Nation, and the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.
In 2004, researchers estimated that about 300 grizzly bears inhabited the northwestern Montana study area. With today's announcement that the area is home to some 765 grizzly bears, FWP officials said the health and size of the population will give wildlife managers more flexibility to transplant grizzlies to augment other populations or take other actions, based on FWP's grizzly bear management plan. Last month, for instance, the fourth bear in the past four years was relocated in the Cabinet Mountain Range as part of the grizzly bear augmentation project currently funded by the Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Foundation.
"Clearly, this threatened species has been well cared for by the people of Montana," Hagener said. "These types of conservation success stories come only with the cooperation of the people who share the landscape with wildlife. Montanans can be proud that they've made room for the ultimate recovery of this important wildlife species."
Hagener noted that NCDE grizzly bears remain federally protected as a threatened species. He said the grizzly bear population could be considered for delisting in a few years if positive population and habitat trends continue to be documented, as was done for the recently delisted Greater Yellowstone grizzly bear population.
-fwp-
