Fish and Game Studies Black Bears

To learn more about one of Idaho's more elusive animals, Idaho Department of Fish and Game biologists are setting up hundreds of bait sites across the state this summer to track black bear. Biologist are hoping to learn more about black bears as the study goes into its second year_such as where bears roam in the summer months_and to develop an index to track changes in bear populations. Wildlife biologist Bruce Palmer explained that "it's something we have been doing in some parts of the state for the past several years. Currently, the only information we have on bear populations or their status comes from the mandatory harvest checks from hunters. This study will give us baseline information on bear occurrences and density for this region and the rest of the state." "Because of the secretive nature of bears it is very difficult to determine population densities," he continued. "Bears don't run out of the trees like deer or elk do when we are flying. We can use this information along with mandatory harvest checks to better manage black bears in Idaho." The baits, consisting of fresh pork fat and anise oil, are hung about eight feet off the ground and wired to a soft-barked tree such as aspen. If a bear catches the scent of the bait, it will climb the tree leaving scrape marks. Biologists will then check all the bait sites later in the summer to count the number of hits on the bait. After a number of years of gathering the data, biologists will be able to combine bear harvest and bait attraction information to better understand bear populations in Idaho.