Population ecology, residents' attitudes, hunter success, economic impact, modeling management options and retention time of Telazol of West Virginia black bears

Abstract

The West Virginia Black Bear Research Project (WVBBRP) was initiated in 1972 to investigate population parameters, growth rates, home ranges, and habitat uses of a declining American black bear (Ursus americanus) population. As with other black bear projects in North America, the WVBBRP demonstrated that black bears enter dens in a predictable order and hunting season dates were adjusted accordingly to allow for population growth while maintaining hunting seasons. The West Virginia Division of Natural Resources (WVDNR) continued to monitor the black bear population and increased monitoring efforts and sample sizes in the 1990’s as the black bear population increased in size and expanded its range. As part of the WVBBRP, we investigated black bear population ecology. Our objectives were to estimate reproductive rates, estimate survival and cause-specific mortality rates, examine effects of special hunting seasons and food conditions on survival, estimate population growth rates, examine population growth sensitivity to differing demographic parameters. Moreover, we examined the most cost effective method to monitor black bear reproduction, survival, and population trends. We trapped > 1,600 black bears and handled them > 4,000 times on 2 study areas and observed 300 new born litters of cubs during den visits from 1972–2007. Reproductive parameter estimates were similar for numerous methods and should provide managers with more cost efficient ways of gathering data. Population demographics were different between oak (Quercus spp.)-hickory (Carya spp.) forest and mixed-mesophytic forest associations. Extreme mast failures influenced the number of black bears surviving to 1 year. Survival estimates of black bears were influenced by hunting season structures and food conditions. Special black bear hunting seasons conducted by the WVDNR reduced female survival and apparently stabilized the population in southern West Virginia. Black bear population dynamics differed within West Virginia and even within study areas depending on capture locations of females. Population dynamics and growth rates were affected by early hunting seasons and protection from hunting through private sanctuaries of large (≥ 544 ha) tracts of land. Where we observed adequate hunting pressure, the 2-year running average of the black bear harvest was highly correlated to population estimates and provided managers with an index to population size when it was not feasible to gather specific demographic data. The 2-year running average of observational data from white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) hunters was correlated to statewide black bear population estimates but nuisance complaints were not correlated to population estimates. Adult female survival was the single parameter that had the largest individual impact on population growth rates, but it is difficult for managers to reduce survival of this age class without decreasing survival in other age classes. Juvenile and subadult female survival rates had little impact on λ when…