Relationship Between Tooth wear and Age in the Japanese Black Bear in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan

Abstract

Some field studies and population management activities relating to the Japanese black bear (Ursus thibetanus japonicus) require noninvasive methods that can quickly provide an estimation of the age of living animals in the field. Nondestructive methods are also necessary when studying specimens that are part of museum or private collections. The most common method of age determination in this subspecies involves counting the tooth cementum annuli (e.g., Nozaki and Mizuno 1986; Amano et al.