Tag Archives: population study

Multi-state wolverine monitoring project underway

Environmental Issues, News,
Wolverine in snow - Steve Kroschel
Wolverine in snow – Steve Kroschel

Here’s a follow-up on last May’s announcement of a multi-state wolverine study . . .

One of the rarest animals in Montana gets a fresh look as Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks reports new efforts to conserve the wolverine.

Bob Inman of FWP says the agency will produce the first ever documentation of where wolverines presently occur in the lower 48 states.

“They are fierce. They are an animal that a lot of people find interesting. There’s mystery to them because they are so rare and so little had been learned about them,” Inman said.

Read more . . .

Grizzly population study to start in Cabinet-Yaak region

Environmental Issues, News, ,

A DNA-based grizzly bear population study is slated to being this summer in the Cabinet-Yaak area . . .

A small army will soon begin a summer of scouring the woods of extreme Northwest Montana and northern Idaho, collecting grizzly bear hair for a genetics-based population study.

The project is being led by Kate Kendall, a U.S. Geological Survey researcher who pioneered a similar large landscape grizzly bear population study in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem in 2004.

On Wednesday, Kendall was on her way to lead 70 field workers in a nine-day training session at a Forest Service work station in the upper Yaak Valley not far from the Canadian border.

Continue reading . . .

Wildlife biologists plan grizzly catch-and-release studies in Northwest Montana

Environmental Issues, News, ,

In the spring, a wildlife biologist’s thoughts turn to bear studies . . .

As a way to monitor the ongoing trend of grizzly bear recovery, wildlife biologists are about to begin capturing grizzlies in western Montana this month for an ongoing population study in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem.

Biologists will begin monitoring the distribution and population of bears in their respective jurisdictions this month. In order to attract bears, biologists utilize natural food sources such as fresh road–killed deer and elk. Potential trapping sites are baited with these natural foods and if indications are that grizzly bears are in the area, snares or culvert traps will be used to capture the bears. Once captured, the bears are sedated, studied, and released in accordance with strict protocols.

Continue reading . . .

Glacier Park hopes to measure fisher population — if any

Environmental Issues, News, ,

Glacier Park thinks they might have a few fishers living within their boundaries. Now, they are going to try to find out for sure . . .

Every year, Glacier National Park biologist John Waller gets about a half-dozen reports from people who claim to have seen a fisher in the Park.

But the reports don’t come with photos. A few years ago Waller tried setting up some “hair traps” in the Park in hopes of snaring some fisher hair in wire brushes, but to no avail.

Now the Park will give it one last go. Through a $20,000 grant from the Glacier National Park Fund, a Park-wide fisher survey using bait stations and camera traps will try to, once and for all, see if there are truly any fishers in Glacier Park.

Continue reading . . .