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Hairs unlock secrets of black bear DNA

Standing in the dense forest just above the Lower Flank Trail in Function Junction, Michael Allen douses a burlap sack with runny brown fish fertilizer.

Standing in the dense forest just above the Lower Flank Trail in Function Junction, Michael Allen douses a burlap sack with runny brown fish fertilizer.

The pungent smell wafts high in the muggy air as he strings the sack up high, peels off a pair of rubber gloves, and swats away some flies.

It can be a messy job at times but this is Allen’s life’s work – studying, observing, recording and learning all about Whistler’s black bears.

Though those fishy sacks may be primitive and smelly, they are part of a high-tech research project, which is going to take his work to a whole new scientific level this summer.

The sacks are hanging above 51 bear-hair traps stretching from Emerald Estates to Function Junction in some out-of-the-way locales. Allen is collecting black bear hair samples in those traps that will be sent to a lab called Wildlife Genetics International in Nelson for DNA testing.

The goal is to get hair from as many bears as he can so he can determine the minimum black bear population in Whistler.

"I have a good idea (of the size of the population)," said Allen, who has been studying Whistler’s bears for the past 10 years and estimates the population could be around 100 bears at its peak, with fluctuations due to cub production and other factors.

"But I still don’t have the science to back it up."

The 600 to 800 hair samples collected between mid-July and mid-October should give him that science.

Last Monday was the first day to collect the hair samples. Allen was up at the crack of dawn, working his way through the bear traps. His assistant, Robyn Appleton from Simon Fraser University, was checking the traps on the west side of the valley.

Fifty feet above the Lower Flank Trail in dense forest the hustle and bustle of Function Junction carries through the trees. You can even hear the persistent ring of a phone, which makes you realize how close we live to the black bears in Whistler.

Though the traps are off the beaten track, Allen said if anyone stumbles upon one, just walk on by. They will not be harmful to dogs he said but as a precaution he recommends leashing your dog if you come upon a sign marking the bear trap.

Allen built most of these traps himself. They are small enclosures with a single strand of barbed wire strung three metres above the ground. The fishy burlap hangs high in the middle of the enclosure out of reach of any bear. It’s just there to tempt them over or under the wire to snag a piece of hair.

He needs at least five guard hairs from the bear’s coat for an accurate sample. The guard hairs are the protective outer layer of hair rather than the clumps of fur, which lie closer to the bear’s skin.

There was no hair in the Lower Flank trap but Allen was rewarded at the Lower Franz’s trap, nestled in the trees on the side of the ski run.

Here in the cool shade next to a stream Allen gathers a clump of brown and a clump of black hair. He puts them in small white envelopes, methodically cataloguing his research.

Then he drenches the burlap sack in fresh fish fertilizer.

Snagging the hair this way is the easiest and most non-evasive way to genetically tag the bears and it doesn’t harm or traumatize any animals. It was a method that was pioneered in the Rockies to study grizzly bears.

For the past 10 years Allen has been watching the bears in his own quiet way, noticing certain behaviour, tracking trends and learning perhaps all you could possibly learn from the powers of observation.

"I’ve solved or determined half of the equation," he said.

"But I don’t know genetically what’s going on."

Now he’s just waiting to find out the rest. It will take three months to get the results once the hair is sent to the lab for testing.

He has already collected about 300 hair samples from the Whistler Interpretive Forest and the ski hill over the past two years. He knows exactly who the samples belong to, be it Jeanie or Marisa or Jasmine, without any genetic coding because he saw the hair come from the bears themselves.

This initial research from 2001-2002 will go to the lab in Nelson first for analysis. Rather than establish a base population, this hair will be instrumental in determining the relatedness of the bears.

Allen will be able to match up mothers and fathers and cubs definitively.

From there he can understand behavioural patterns within the bear families.

He’s observed almost every bear behaviour scenario that happens but that doesn’t mean he’s not anxious or curious to find out what the DNA might reveal.

"I just think I’m going to find some surprises," he said.

The DNA mapping can open up a whole host of information about black bears in B.C., particularly the way black bears adapt in a developing place like Whistler.

"Whistler is becoming very dynamic," he said.

"It’s changing very fast and so is the bear population."

For example Allen said in the early ’90s it would be common to spot 20 to 30 dominant males in the area. That number has dropped significantly, to about eight to 10, in recent years. DNA testing might shed some light on this puzzle.

Allen said Whistler likes to lead by example in a lot of different ways. This DNA research could lead to new conservation efforts for black bears in B.C.

And now for the first time in a decade Allen is getting some funding to help his research. The money is coming from the province and Simon Fraser University. The municipality and Whistler-Blackcomb may also kick in with some funding.

The traps will be used for three years and future studies may give Allen an even deeper understanding of the bears.

In the meantime, until the results come back from the lab, Allen will continue to pour his fish fertilizer every week and collect his hair.

With a decade under his belt, he’s ready to find out what the next decade will unfold.

He said: "I want to do another 10 years (and) see a complete or near as complete life cycle of the black bear."

Allen would like to thank Brian Barnett at the municipality for permission to build the traps and access as well as Arthur De Jong at Whistler-Blackcomb for the signs. He would also like to thank the Whistler Bear Working Group and Simon Fraser University for funding and approval.