Disuse typically causes an imbalance in bone formation and bone resorption, leading to losses of cortical and trabecular bone. In contrast, bears maintain balanced intracortical remodeling and prevent cortical bone loss during disuse (hibernation). Trabecular bone, however, is more detrimentally affected than cortical bone in other animal models of disuse. Here we investigated the effects of hi...

We present the first rigorous estimate of grizzly bear (Ursus arctos) population density and distribution in and around Glacier National Park (GNP), Montana, USA. We used genetic analysis to identify individual bears from hair samples collected via 2 concurrent sampling methods: 1) systematically distributed, baited, barbed-wire hair traps and 2) unbaited bear rub trees found along trails. We u...

Sound wildlife conservation decisions require sound information, and scientists increasingly rely on remotely collected data over large spatial scales, such as noninvasive genetic tagging (NGT). Grizzly bears (Ursus arctos), for example, are difficult to study at population scales except with noninvasive data, and NGT via hair trapping informs management over much of grizzly bears' range. Consi...

I review the current status of Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus) and Himalayan brown bear (Ursus arctos) in India based on a questionnaire, interviews, and a literature survey. The Himalayan region and the hills of northeastern India probably support one of the largest populations of Asiatic black bear in Asia. Asiatic black bears live in forested mountain habitats (1,200-3,300 m) in the st...

By necessity, grizzly bear demographic models have largely ignored spatial considerations (McLellan 1989, Eberhardt et al. 1994, Eberhardt 1995, Hovey and McLellan 1996). However, ignoring spatial heterogeneity is equivalent to assuming that individuals live in a homogeneous environment and that all members of the population experience the same environmental conditions at any point in time (Pul...