GPS Tracking Collars and CritterCams Used to Document the Lives and Habits of Urban Bears
13 Jun 2013Word of warning: Don’t leave garbage out anywhere in the country, but particularly if you live in Alaska.
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game is on a mission to track and monitor movements from so called “urban bears”, and have been monitoring city bear habits every 20 minutes using GPS tracking collars.
The project is being done using GPS tracking collars, along with what are called “Critter Cams” to see how they behave when they aren’t watched.
The project is led by Sean Farley, a biologist at the Department of Fish and Game in Alaska. He has placed the cameras under the bears’ chins in order to record 10 seconds every 5 minutes for the black bears, and every 20 minutes for the brown bears. These bears are native to Alaska, with little knowledge about their behaviors since they tend to shy away from humans. The Critter Cams also include GPS tracking devices which can show live feed of the bears’ whereabouts every 20 minutes when the camera picks up live feeds.
Before placing the GPS collars and cameras on the bears, they first needed to be captured. This was done by two biologists from Anchorage, Alaska; Jessy Coltrane and Dave Battle. They document hundreds of bears in the Anchorage area, helping to capture brown and black bears in order to fit them with the collars.
Farley and others from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game feel that the cameras and GPS collars are giving them a unique look at how the bears act naturally. They hope to use the information they gain in order to improve the natural habitat and health of the urban bears. The GPS collars will give them location tracking information and track their movements throughout the day.
Among other things, Farley and his research assistant Tony Carnahan, want to develop a fine scale diet and resource use plan for brown and black bears in Alaska. The research is conducted by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, which includes a variety of education specialists and biologists. Not only do they get live feed every few minutes, but later they can observe the data to see what each bear was doing, when and hopefully figure out why.
One thing they have already found in the 60 or so hours of up-close and personal bear tracking is that the bears like rummaging through and eating garbage. Interestingly, bears appear to identify which trash cans are equipped with bear-locks, suggesting that this may be an effective bear deterrent.
Some of the data the biologists receive includes when they’re eating and what their prey is, how fast they move and how often they move naturally, if they interact with other bears or other wildlife, what their interactions with people are like, if they eat birdseed, garbage, natural foods or pet food, and if they have any sort of grooming habits. Researchers say that the GPS tracker collars and cameras will help better manage urban bears.
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