Grizzly managers have proposed new ways to count bears and bear deaths in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem that could make it easier to end federal protection of the species.
In the absence of accurate grizzly bear demographics, the changes are expected to increase the estimated number of bears in the population while decreasing the estimated number of mortalities, experts say. The idea surfaced at a meeting of Yellowstone area grizzly mangers in Teton Village last week. The current method for estimating the size of the grizzly population — by counting females with cubs of the year from the air and ground and by trapping — is inaccurate, USGS biologist Mark Haroldson said at the gathering last week. The mathematical formula estimates the population at between 533 and 652 animals, but Haroldson said it is likely larger.
In the absence of accurate grizzly bear demographics, the changes are expected to increase the estimated number of bears in the population while decreasing the estimated number of mortalities, experts say. The idea surfaced at a meeting of Yellowstone area grizzly mangers in Teton Village last week. The current method for estimating the size of the grizzly population — by counting females with cubs of the year from the air and ground and by trapping — is inaccurate, USGS biologist Mark Haroldson said at the gathering last week. The mathematical formula estimates the population at between 533 and 652 animals, but Haroldson said it is likely larger.
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