Post by grrraaahhh on Oct 23, 2010 7:28:56 GMT -9
October 14th, 2010 4:22 pm ET
To assuage our fear of bears, we're often told grizzlies are omnivores with "90% of their diet consisting of vegetation."
But an article in Yellowstone Science written by park bear specialist Kerry Gunther and colleagues says "Yellowstone adult male grizzlies" have a diet that's 80% meat, and 20% plants.
Gunther also noted that "Yellowstone grizzlies preying on livestock outside the park" had a diet consisting of 15% plants, and 85% meat."
Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team annual reports show that from 2007 to 2009, grizzly bear predation on cattle accounted for 188/539 conflicts in the Yellowstone region. That's 35% of all conflicts. Conservationists, of course, ask why the U.S. Forest Service still has active grazing allotments in grizzly country.
The 6 million acre "primary conservation area" for Yellowstone-area grizzlies includes 2.2 million acre Yellowstone Park, and about 4 million acres of U.S. Forest Service land. In addition, grizzlies now occupy another 3 million acres of Forest Service land outside the "primary conservation area."
If seven million acres seems like a lot for grizzlies, bear in mind that the U.S. Forest Service leases tens of millions of acres of land to ranchers at a bargain-basement price.
Are humans on the menu for Yellowstone's meat-eating male grizzly bears? Rarely. It's almost unheard of. Nevertheless, it can happen. And the fear of being killed and eaten by a wild animal is in our genes.
This author used to live in Yellowstone Park, and I did a bit of tent camping in grizzly country. I can assure you than when you're in a tent and you hear something moving around outside in the middle of the night, your partner won't turn to you and whisper, "Do you think it's an elk?"
www.examiner.com/bear-spray-in-national/male-grizzlies-yellowstone-are-meat-eaters
Article link: Grizzly bear nutrition and ecology studies in Yellowstone National Park
www.nrmsc.usgs.gov/files/norock/products/GrizzlyBearNutrition-Ecology.pdf
To assuage our fear of bears, we're often told grizzlies are omnivores with "90% of their diet consisting of vegetation."
But an article in Yellowstone Science written by park bear specialist Kerry Gunther and colleagues says "Yellowstone adult male grizzlies" have a diet that's 80% meat, and 20% plants.
Gunther also noted that "Yellowstone grizzlies preying on livestock outside the park" had a diet consisting of 15% plants, and 85% meat."
Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team annual reports show that from 2007 to 2009, grizzly bear predation on cattle accounted for 188/539 conflicts in the Yellowstone region. That's 35% of all conflicts. Conservationists, of course, ask why the U.S. Forest Service still has active grazing allotments in grizzly country.
The 6 million acre "primary conservation area" for Yellowstone-area grizzlies includes 2.2 million acre Yellowstone Park, and about 4 million acres of U.S. Forest Service land. In addition, grizzlies now occupy another 3 million acres of Forest Service land outside the "primary conservation area."
If seven million acres seems like a lot for grizzlies, bear in mind that the U.S. Forest Service leases tens of millions of acres of land to ranchers at a bargain-basement price.
Are humans on the menu for Yellowstone's meat-eating male grizzly bears? Rarely. It's almost unheard of. Nevertheless, it can happen. And the fear of being killed and eaten by a wild animal is in our genes.
This author used to live in Yellowstone Park, and I did a bit of tent camping in grizzly country. I can assure you than when you're in a tent and you hear something moving around outside in the middle of the night, your partner won't turn to you and whisper, "Do you think it's an elk?"
www.examiner.com/bear-spray-in-national/male-grizzlies-yellowstone-are-meat-eaters
Article link: Grizzly bear nutrition and ecology studies in Yellowstone National Park
www.nrmsc.usgs.gov/files/norock/products/GrizzlyBearNutrition-Ecology.pdf