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Bear Update: Daisy’s Spring Cubs

Bear Researcher Two brown 5-month old black bear cubs watch me from the crook of a cedar snag. Soft-bodied silhouettes sway to the rhythm of easterly winds.

Bear Researcher

Two brown 5-month old black bear cubs watch me from the crook of a cedar snag. Soft-bodied silhouettes sway to the rhythm of easterly winds. Twelve metres below, their mother edges through erect stems of huckleberry, systematically nudging white 7-mm long flowers from their stems. From 10-metres I record bear activity, elevation, berry phenology, weather, and our location using a GPS (global positioning system).

At a minimum age of eight years, ski area resident Daisy is the smallest reproducing female at 64 kg. She is nearly half the weight of larger (120 kg) and older (12 years) adult females like Susie in the Whistler Interpretive Forest. Her lean, muscular frame abruptly bounds 2-metres vertical, skidding onto a large rotten log. Nose and claws immediately work the long crevices of decay in search of black carpenter ants. Hints of hydrocarbons reveal to bears, potential sites of the protein-rich colonial hymenopterans. Cubs finally relax their grip on life by shifting and climbing around one another redirecting stored energies of strength for newly adopted arboreal activities.

Daisy

is one of the first resident females to emerge with cubs-of-the-year. To date (June 1), five bear family groups have been identified in Whistler. If anyone observes bear families please call or e-mail (see below).

Completed Spring Bear Education

The Whistler Black Bear Project presented the seventh year of seasonal classroom bear awareness to Myrtle Philip Community School (MPCS) thanks to funding from Brian Barnett at the Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW). The RMOW has funded the last five years (300 presentations) of bear education programs for MPCS that includes classroom bear awareness, habitat field trips (Grade 5), and bear camps for kids (RMOW Parks and Recreation).

Thanks to parents and teachers for their participation with field trips.

"Raising" the younger generation on bear information has spawned unique community interest, support, and understanding of local bears. Children provide a link to parents and teachers who all diffuse information through social pathways of the community. As we recognize our domain as an intricate part of the bear’s annual activities we steadily come to grips with adapting to a lifestyle of living in bear habitat.

Recreation Staff Awareness

Staff awareness presentations are on-going with golf courses and front-country eco-tourism operators. It’s important to recognize that recreation operators represent a vital source of communication through bear/human corridors. Golf courses and recreation tenures of eco-tourism operators provide some of the most enhanced, habitat corridors for the area bear population. I encourage all recreation operators from campgrounds to ski areas to include bear education in their summer orientation.

Bear Workshops and Viewing

The last bear workshop sponsored by the Whistler Museum and Archives Society was a big hit and I’d like to thank all those that participated. The next workshop is Behavior and Abundance of Black Bears in Whistler on Tuesday, June 17 at 7 p.m. at the Delta Village Suites across from the Whistler Museum on Main Street. The fourth season of Whistler-Blackcomb bear viewing commences June 1. Last season allowed over 500 people to experience the unique activities of ski area bears. These popular tours have evolved from "photo-tunistic" bear watching to comprehensive education outreach that leaves clients with a useful knowledge-base for coping and understanding local bear biology. Tours run 6-9 a.m. and p.m., seven days a week from June through mid-October. Registration and information call 604-932-3434 or 1-800-766-0449.

Jeanie’s

Daughter Found

A lone brown phase yearling female believed to be Whistler Mountain resident mother Jeanie, was located on May 30 along lower ski slopes on Blackcomb. Jeanie entered her denning area late last year during mid-December with two 12-month cubs, only to emerge alone in early April. It’s possible that Jeanie left the den earlier with or without her young. Mothers typically raise cubs for 17-19 months only to separate the family shortly before the breeding period and influx of males. Jeanie’s son should also survive, having entered the den at a greater weight. Out of three litters since 1998, this is the first time Jeanie has had a daughter survive post-family break-up.

Whistler BEAR-ID INDEX

Field research on Whistler bears is based on the ability to identify individual bears such that each bear can be recognized with confidence for subsequent studies. Identification is supported by 35-mm photography and digital video recording. Over 2,000 photos and slides and 300 hours of footage have been compiled on resident and transient bears. Individual recognition is confirmed by physical characteristics including body size (weight and shape) and colour, chest/neck markings, facial coloration, sex (genitalia), scars/injuries, and deformities. Behaviour (degree of habituation) and location also aid in interpretation of identity.

Results from this cumulative database allow development of a BEAR-ID INDEX. The index will key individual bears and their behaviour comprising Whistler resident and transient populations. Such an index would be useful to conservation, RCMP, and bylaw officers when attending bear/human conflicts. The index would provide proactive insight into individual bear history allowing for better decision-making and communication between bear complaint responders. I’m interested in looking at photographs of bears people have taken in Whistler valley. If your photo represents a clear view of a bear’s head (face) and neck and/or chest you may e-mail or notify me. Sometimes the most useful photographs come from sudden encounters on decks, backyards, etc. Please do not approach bears to photograph.

Thanks to Pique Newsmagazine for support of this bear outreach. Questions, information, or bear family sighting reports please call Michael Allen in Whistler 604-902-1660 and Squamish 604-898-2713 or e-mail mallen_coastbear@direct.ca.

 

Caption:

The facial characteristics of an brown-phase eight-year-old, 64 kg ski area resident adult female Daisy. The basis of Whistler bear studies is to identify individuals in the population such that they may be recognized for the remainder of their lives. Ski area bears are well represented. If you have photographs of Whistler valley bears that clearly show the bear's face and you would like to contribute to the BEAR-ID INDEX send them to mallen_coastbear@direct.ca