‘Risk of bear mortality:’ Study finds people, not roads, bug grizzlies the most
EDMONTON — It’s not necessarily the roads in the backcountry that bother grizzly bears. Sometimes, it’s the people on them.
That’s one of the conclusions of new research from the University of Alberta — and it could have big implications for resource development.
“There’s no doubt that roads themselves are probably not that bad for bears,” said Clayton Lamb, a University of Alberta biologist and co-author of a paper published Tuesday in the Journal of Applied Ecology.
Lamb and his colleagues used DNA marking to study the movements of 74 grizzlies over 8,000 square kilometres of wilderness in southern British Columbia between Oliver and Castlegar. They were trying to assess the relationship between road density and bear populations.