Interactions between brown bears and humans in Scandinavia

On the basis of the results of former studies by the present authors five main groups of bears are recognized: Ursus gr. minimus - thibetanus (black bears), Ursus gr. etruscus (etruscan bears), Ursus gr. arctos (brown bears), Ursus gr. deningei - spelaeus (cave bears) and Ursus gr. maritimus (white bears). Black bears seem to have disappeared from Europe during the Late Pliocene, immigrated again at the beginning of the Middle Pleistocene, and definitively died out in Europe at the beginning of the Late Pleistocene. Etruscan bears occur more or less contemporaneously in the southern areas of Europe and Asia during the Late Pliocene. The Asian branch apparently became extinct at the end of this period, while the European stock survived, giving rise to more advanced representatives during the Early Pleistocene. Brown bears seem to have originated in Asia. This group dispersed widely in holoarctic areas diversifying into a great number of varieties. They reached Europe presumably at the very end of the Early Pleistocene. The arrival of brown bears in Europe is a crucial event, which approximately coincides with the great faunal turnover which marks the Early-Middle Pleistocene transition. Brown bears replaced the etruscan bears, typical of the Villafranchian faunal assemblages, and gave rise to the cave bear line. Cave bears were very successful in Europe during the Middle and Late Pleistocene and disappeared at the end of the last glaciation or even at the very beginning of the Holocene. White bears presumably originated from northern Eurasian brown bear populations during the Late Pleistocene.

This thesis presents several case studies on life history evolution in Laurasiatheria, a diverse group of mammals occupying a wide range of habitats. The respective group in each case study was chosen based on its suitability to answer an underlying question. Additionally, one case study investigates domestication as driver for variation within a species. The first case study aims for a closer look on the Schultz’s rule and heterochro -ny in the relative eruption sequence of the permanent dentition in lower jaws of deer, Cervidae. Cervids were chosen because of their relative uniform mandibular architecture. Schultz’s rule implies that slower growing animals replace their deciduous teeth earlier in relative sequence compared to molar eruption to counterbalance tooth decay and maintain a functional tooth set during growth. The study revealed several heterochronic shifts in tooth eruption during the evolution of deer and resulted in an ancestral tooth eruption sequence, which can also be found in the fossil record. In contrast, the relative eruption sequence is not correlated with any life history variable and thus it does not provide in formation about the life history of cervids. The second study investigated the brain size of cave bears and compared it to extant bear species. Encephalization, or brain size in relation to body size, is linked to some life history variables in Ursidae such as gestation time, newborn mass, weaning mass, and litter size. The results suggest that cave bears had a small brain compared to body size, due to a decoupled body and brain size evolution in which the increase of body size outpaced the one of brain size. Additionally, the trade-off between fat storage and brain size as well as diet might have impacted the relative brain size of cave bears. The degree of encephalization of cave bears suggests that this species gave birth to many, light weighted cubs and had prolonged gestation; mass at weaning was small. The growth of different bear species was investigated using histological thin sections of the midshaft of femora. The growth rate of cave bears from different European localities was investigated and compared to the one of black bears, brown bears, polar bears, sloth bears, and sun bears. The bone cortex of all bear species exhibits a fibrolamellar complex and mostly varies in amounts of parallel-fibered and lamellar bone. Cave bears exhibit a high growth rate and late maturity. The altitude of the locality in which the cave bear remains were found was correlated with growth rate. The growth rate of cave bears indicates that this species gave birth to many, small offspring. In the final case study presented in this thesis, the aim was to investigate how domestication affects variation within a species. For this, the extinct Niata cattle from South America was used as case study. The Niata was a heavy brachycephalic cattle variety. It was described by Darwin and sparked debates among scientists in Europe due to its peculiar appearance. These debates are addressed in an integrative investigation of the Niata using anatomical description, geometric morphometrics, finite element analysis, and genetic analysis. The anatomical description shows clear distinctions between the Niata traits and lethal malformations with which its brachycephaly was compared. The morphometric and genetic analyses show the distinctiveness of the Niata compared to other cattle and places it close to the European taurine breeds. Additionally, the finite element analysis revealed released stress on the Niata skull during bilateral bite. The Niata is an illustrative case on how human intervention shapes domesticated species. To summarize, the case studies presented in this thesis exemplify how bones and teeth can be used to infer life history of extant and extinct animals as well as how humans shape animals during domestication.
\nKeywords: heterochrony, Schultz’s rule, encephalization, hibernation, palaeohistology, growth rate, domestication, chondrodysplasia

The literary work which has treated the relation between man and nature to the theme is called the ＂nature writing＂ in Europe and America. When this considers the relation between man and nature (ecology and environment), it is an effective literary technique. There are three features, ＂feeling of a place＂, ＂relation with environmental problem literature＂, and ＂exchange and representation＂, in a nature writing. This paper has made applicable to research three works which have drown the subject of the nuclear power plant from the viewpoint of the animal (bears, horses, brown bears) after post 3.11 as ＂Kamisama2011＂ of Hiromi Kawakami , Hideo Furukawa’s ＂Umatachiyo soredmo hikariwa mukude＂, and Yuko Tsushima’s Higuma no shizukana umi＂＂ on the basis of above three viewpoints. The common feature of these three works is the preliminary announcement of the new start which continues after the end of one age. So to speak, this can be said to be an apocalyptic preliminary announcement. This tends to reflect on the human being’s action deeply, and tends to reverse the relation with the severely destroyed environment from the bottom. Simultaneously, this is manifestation to the strong decision in which try to tend a symbiotic way of life with nature bravely.

Conservation of biodiversity is rapidly changing as a result of increased impact of human activity on the natural world. At the beginning of a new epoch - the Anthropocene - the cumulative effect of population growth and natural resource consumption has left no corner of the planet unaffected by humans. Impacts can be observed on a global scale, such as climate change, ocean acidification, and nitrification and also on a local scale including habitat destruction, community composition, and pollution. These impacts are restructuring ecosystems into novel systems that require creative approaches to conserve ecosystem processes and maintain biodiversity. Large mammalian carnivores represent a clade of organisms that has a varied ability to survive in human dominated landscapes. For my dissertation, I examined community structure, movement, and abundance of brown bears (Ursus arctos arctos), gray wolves (Canis lupus), and Caucasian lynx (Lynx lynx dinniki) in a human dominated landscape in eastern Turkey. From 2013-2016, I surveyed for all medium-large mammal species using remote cameras deployed in a fragmented forest patch near Sarikamis, Turkey. Occupancy estimates reveal a mammal community dominated by large carnivores, humans and livestock, and lacking a natural prey base. During 2011-2016, I collared 28 bears, 11 wolves and 2 lynx and used species-specific seasonal resource selection functions to assess habitat selection patterns. I found that all three species use of habitat varies between seasons and is strongly linked to elevation and slope. By identifying critical habitat for all three species, I have prioritized a specific area for conservation efforts in the future. To estimate the minimum population size of brown bears in my main study area, during 2013-2015, I used scat detection dogs to collect 1,520 bear scat samples for genetic analysis, and using 8 polymorphic microsatellite loci, I identified 27 unique multilocus genotypes and expected heterozygosity of 0.70 as a proxy of genetic diversity. I also conducted opinion surveys in 2014 and combined results with surveys conducted 2006 and 2010 to understand the perspective of the local community about large carnivores. Lastly, I propose a prioritized list of future conservation plans for large carnivore conservation in the human-dominated landscape of Sarikamis Forest, eastern Anatolia.

The well-being of wild and captive animals is often assessed through the measurement of faecal glucocorticoid metabolite (FGM) concentrations. In order to determine the temporal relationships between faecal glucocorticoids and events that might elicit increases in glucocorticoid secretion, we conducted adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) challenge tests on polar ( Ursus maritimus ) and grizzly bears ( Ursus arctos horribilis ) at the Louisville Zoo. FGMs were measured for three days before and after an injection of ACTH, using DA Corticosterone I-125 kits (ICN MP Biomedicals). FGM excretion increased 343–2258% over baseline concentrations. The latency to maximum excretion ranged from 4.5 h to 28.5 h. Five of the bears produced their maximum FGM excretion within 6.2 h of the ACTH injection. The first day’s mean FGM concentration after ACTH injection for the six bears (mean ± standard error of the mean (SEM): 106.4±21.3 ng/g dry wt) was significantly higher than the mean baseline concentration (mean ± SEM: 22.3±5.3 ng/g dry wt). The results are consistent with the values obtained in other studies of captive mammals, including polar bears and grizzly bears. However, compared to previous publications, our results suggest that a shorter latency to peak response can occur in bears and that collection of faeces to evaluate peak responses should occur within hours rather than days of stimulation of the adrenal cortex with ACTH.

Brown bear is the largest carnivore in Iran and is distributed the throughout the mountainous area of the country. The largest population of species inhabit the northern slopes of Alborz Mountains and the Hyrcanian mountainous forests part are the main species distribution area . Therefore, identifying the effective Biogeographical factors and selection of the suitable habitat by the species plays an important role in the describing species distribution. We collected the brown bear presence points in the three Northern Provinces of Iran Guilan, Mazandaran and Golestan. After testing the correlation of the parameters, the species habitat suitability map was prepared by using the Maximum Entropy Method. The results indicated that the model performed well in predicting suitable areas. The results of Jackknife analysis showed that the slope and after that vegetation index variables have the most effects on the suitability of the species habitat. Most parts of the study area are suitable for brown bear.

This paper aims to highlight the comparative aspects of the splanchnocranium, in two species that were not detailed in Romanian literature: the brown bear (Ursusarctos) - a protected species, and the lion(Pantheraleo). The lion is a mammal from theFelidaefamily, the 2nd largest feline after the tiger, while the bear is a particularly strong predator representative for the Romanian wildlife, belonging to theUrside family. For this study we have used two bear skulls and two lion skulls, all belonging to the Museum of the Comparative Anatomy Discipline of the University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Cluj-Napoca. The skulls were obtained through the usual techniques of osseous pieces processing. Following the examination, we have noted that adult bears have massive skulls. The line of the common profile of the nasal, frontal and occipital bones is relatively smooth, rising and falling progressively in the cranio-caudal direction. The cranial cavity is small, flattened and elongated. The incisors are well developed, and the canines are large and curved. The molars of the superior maxillary present a progressive development in the cranio-caudal sense, while the inferior dental arch has weakly developed first and last molars. The two diastemata are of considerable length. The lion’s skull has an elongated profile, the frontal region slightly fattened, a short post-orbital region, and the cranial cavity has thicker bones, protecting the brain. The nasal openings are large. The maxillary is strong, accommodating a number of 30 teeth. The four canines are long, to help suffocate the pray. The incisors are small, but the carnassials are like a scissor’s blade, in order to cut the meat. The bear skull is more massif than the lion’s, which in turn is more elongated.

We tested 30 prototype global positioning system (GPS) radiocollars on brown bears (Ursus arctos) over a 3-year period on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska. Collars were of 2 design types: GPS units with an Argos (Argos Data collection and Location System) satellite uplink (n = 19) and GPS units where the data were stored on board (n = 10) for retrieval at a later date. All units also contained a conventional VHF (very high frequency) transmitter and weighed 1.7 kg. GPS-Argos units obtained 10-82% of expected GPS fixes, and fix rate declined significantly (P < 0.05) with time after deployment. Argos uplink success (proportion of successful transmissions of stored data) was linearly related to GPS fix rate (r = 0.91, P < 0.001). Storeon-board units obtained significantly more successful fixes when compared with the GPS-Argos units (t = -4.009, P < 0.001). Fix success rate for deployed store-on-board collars ranged from 13-96%; because of the increased number of attempted fixes per day, these collars obtained fixes on 97% of days deployed. Accuracy of the GPS units was less than predicted by the NAVSTAR GPS technology using the course acquisition code. Reduced accuracy was likely a result of the proportion of 2-dimensional versus 3-dimensional fixes obtained, although we could not determine this statistic from recorded data. Increased overstory closure was the only variable measured that partially explained the reduced likelihood of a successful fix. Stem density, stem diameter, and overstory height measured within 3 m of the collar did not affect fix success. GPS fix success rates for collars attached to bears varied more and were lower than fix rates for stationary collars placed in various vegetation types, suggesting that the bear, terrain, and movement all influence both fix and uplink success rate. Application of this new technology to grizzly and brown bear research and comparisons to studies with moose (Alces alces) are discussed.

This dataset contains measures of oxygen consumption and kinematic measures from 2 captive polar bears and 7 captive grizzly bears resting and walking in a metabolic chamber.

The first part of this PhD thesis is devoted to the application of molecular genetics to describe demographic trends, geographic distribution patterns and genetic status of the Alpine population 15 years after the reintroduction program. In order to achieve the first objective we a) increased the number of STR markers (from 10 to 15 loci) in the Alpine population to raise the informativity content for population genetics studies, and possibly resolve uncertain parentage assignments; b) presented an annual overview of the demographic status of the Alpine population for a long-term monitoring program; c) measured the genetic diversity over generations, highlighting possible trends d) identified parentage relationships and provided a pedigree reconstruction, showing if there is an increase of inbreeding events over generations; e) estimated the effective population size; f) verified whether or not a connection between the reintroduced population in the central Alps and the Dinaric population was established. We furthermore provided considerations for conservation and management of this species in the Alps, taking into account the emerged demographic, spatial and genetic aspects. The second part is methodological and is about developing a new set of SNP markers to enhance the resolution power for population genetics analysis of the Alpine and Apennine populations. In order to identify reliable and informative SNPs we a) tested the effectiveness of an existing SNP panel, developed for the Scandinavian brown bear populations, on the two Italian brown bear subspecies, identifying a set of SNPs that has potential for a SNP-based individual and sex identification system. I took into consideration the ascertainment bias that arises when transferring SNP markers across populations; and b) tested the selected subset of SNPs for parentage assignments in the Alpine population, comparing its resolution power with that derived from STRs.

Effects of wildlife viewing on the behaviour of grizzly bear ( Ursus arctos) in the Khutzeymateen (K'tzim-a-deen) Grizzly Bear Sanctuary, British Columbia

Data set containing test results of screening blood and serum samples from five populations of Brown Bears in Alaska. Samples were tested to detect current or previous exposure to bacteria (Brucella spp., Francisella tularensis, and Leptospira spp.), viruses (canine adenovirus, canine distemper virus, canine parvovirus, and influenza A virus), and parasites (Toxoplasma gondii, and Trichinella spp.).

A mass burial of brown bears (Ursus arctos L., 1758) from the Upper Pleistocene of the Northern Urals.

Additional file 2: of Improving sperm banking efficiency in endangered species through the use of a sperm selection method in brown bear (Ursus arctos) thawed sperm

Cuestionamiento de la actual estrategia de conservacion del oso pardo, Ursus arctos , en Europa, que infravalora la taxonomia En este trabajo se ponen de relieve los problemas relacionados con la taxonomia actualmente aceptada del oso pardo, Ursus arctos , y sus consecuencias para la conservacion en el ambito europeo. En la actualidad, ni la taxonomia ni las practicas de conservacion reconocen la enorme variabilidad morfologica existente dentro de la especie Ursus arctos . Los investigadores moleculares reconocen la existencia de siete clados principales en Ursus arctos y, a pesar de que en Europa occidental la mayoria de las poblaciones pertenecen al primitivo Clado 1 del linaje de oso pardo, en las politicas vigentes de conservacion no se hace referencia a ello. Ademas, la diminuta poblacion de osos pardos de los Apeninos, caracterizada por una morfologia craneal particular, ni siquiera es reconocida como una unidad evolutiva significativa (UES) por la legislacion europea vigente ni tampoco esta incluida en la Lista Roja de la UICN. Ello puede tener graves consecuencias, puesto que la conservacion del oso pardo en Europa occidental se ha basado principalmente en programas de repoblacion y reintroduccion.