Behaviour of Solitary Adult Scandinavian Brown Bears (Ursus arctos) when Approached by Humans on Foot

Successful management has brought the Scandinavian brown bear (Ursus arctos L.) back from the brink of extinction, but as the population grows and expands the probability of bear-human encounters increases. More people express concerns about spending time in the forest, because of the possibility of encountering bears, and acceptance for the bear is decreasing. In this context, reliable information about the bear's normal behaviour during bear-human encounters is important. Here we describe the behaviour of brown bears when encountering humans on foot. During 2006–2009, we approached 30 adult (21 females, 9 males) GPS-collared bears 169 times during midday, using 1-minute positioning before, during and after the approach. Observer movements were registered with a handheld GPS. The approaches started 869±348 m from the bears, with the wind towards the bear when passing it at approximately 50 m. The bears were detected in 15% of the approaches, and none of the bears displayed any aggressive behaviour. Most bears (80%) left the initial site during the approach, going away from the observers, whereas some remained at the initial site after being approached (20%). Young bears left more often than older bears, possibly due to differences in experience, but the difference between ages decreased during the berry season compared to the pre-berry season. The flight initiation distance was longer for active bears (115±94 m) than passive bears (69±47 m), and was further affected by horizontal vegetation cover and the bear's age. Our findings show that bears try to avoid confrontations with humans on foot, and support the conclusions of earlier studies that the Scandinavian brown bear is normally not aggressive during encounters with humans

Seasonal movements and dispersal patterns: Implications for recruitment and management of willow ptarmigan ( Lagopus lagopus

We investigated the general patterns of movements in willow ptarmigan (Lagopus lagopus) populations. We analyzed data from 300 radiocollared willow ptarmigan from 3 study areas in the Swedish mountain range, and from 2 previous studies of recoveries of wing-tagged chicks from 3 areas in southern Norway. We found that 80% of juvenile females dispersed more than 5 km from their natal area, whereas only 25% of juvenile males established a summer range more than 5 km from the area where they were caught as chicks. Mean dispersal distances of juvenile females were 3 times longer (10.4 km) than those of juvenile males (2.4 km). Movement differences within sexes were not associated with apparent female breeding success or ptarmigan density in the natal area, and adult females migrated between wintering areas used as juveniles and their first breeding site. We found no differences in dispersal distances between the Norwegian and Swedish populations. Movements of adult and juvenile females during spring were similar in all respects. At scales of more than 5 km, the movements of juveniles and adult females play a role in redistributing birds within landscape units, and represent important inter-population movements. The results of this study explain the apparent contradiction between non-compensatory mortality based on data from radio-marked ptarmigan, and the almost complete compensation based on annual counts. Estimating the extent of immigration into areas with high local mortality is difficult because of predation or harvest under conditions of high, fixed emigration and immigration dependent on local conditions. This represents a problem if dispersal distances include areas that are considerably larger than the size of the study are

End-user involvement to improve predictions and management of populations with complex dynamics and multiple drivers

Sustainable management of wildlife populations can be aided by building models that both identify current drivers of natural dynamics and provide near-term predictions of future states. We employed a Strategic Foresight Protocol (SFP) involving stakeholders to decide the purpose and structure of a dynamic state-space model for the population dynamics of the Willow Ptarmigan, a popular game species in Norway. Based on local knowledge of stakeholders, it was decided that the model should include food web interactions and climatic drivers to provide explanatory predictions. Modeling confirmed observations from stakeholders that climate change impacts Ptarmigan populations negatively through intensified outbreaks of insect defoliators and later onset of winter. Stakeholders also decided that the model should provide anticipatory predictions. The ability to forecast population density ahead of the harvest season was valued by the stakeholders as it provides the management extra time to consider appropriate harvest regulations and communicate with hunters prior to the hunting season. Overall, exploring potential drivers and predicting short-term future states, facilitate collaborative learning and refined data collection, monitoring designs, and management priorities. Our experience from adapting a SFP to a management target with inherently complex dynamics and drivers of environmental change, is that an open, flexible, and iterative process, rather than a rigid step-wise protocol, facilitates rapid learning, trust, and legitimacy. climate change; decision-making; food web; harvesting; near-term forecasting; population cycles; stakeholders; strategic foresight