Grizzly territory to be mapped from space and land
Last Updated: Friday, July 28, 2006 | 7:48 AM MT
CBC News
Researchers at the University of Calgary are using satellite images and ground surveys to create the most detailed map available of Alberta's grizzly bear territory.
The ongoing study could help guide policy on activities such as road building, forestry, and oil and gas drilling, said Prof. Greg McDermid.
"They fundamentally change the landscape," he said.
Scientists believe grizzlies living in protected areas, such as parks, live longer and are under less stress than those on public lands.
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"They change the way the forest is structured, they change the way people can access the wilderness and the landscape; so then we have bear-human interaction and often the bear is the one that loses."
Mapping grizzly territory
University of Calgary researchers will compare satellite images with conditions on the ground in the grizzly habitat.
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Four students are mapping the eastern portion of Waterton Lakes National Park, and provincial lands in Alberta all the way north to the Peace Country this summer.
They will then compare the images with conditions on the ground, creating the most detailed picture of grizzly bear range available, he said.
Researchers have already mapped national parks in the Rocky Mountains.
Scientists theorize that grizzlies living in protected areas such as parks live longer and are under less stress than those on public lands, McDermid said. Bears under stress don't have as many cubs, he added.
Most Albertans don't realize how much development is going on in the province's backcountry, he said.
"For example, there's 30,000 new oil and gas wells going in on public lands in the next year. Every one of those oil and gas wells will have a road associated with it and access features, and seismic lines."
A wildlife conservationist says it's time for action.
"We really need a fairly fundamental change in the way we think, the way we operate on the landscape," said Nigel Douglas of the Alberta Wilderness Association.
"That's what we're going to need if we're going to keep grizzly bears…we're taking the first few little steps, but we got a long way to go."
The University of Calgary project will wrap up in 2011.
Hunting good for cubs?
Meanwhile, new research at the University of Alberta suggests regulated bear hunting may actually improve a newborn cub's chances of survival.
University of Alberta biologist Sophie Czetwertynski says her four-year study shows cubs have a significantly better chance of surviving in a region where bear hunting is allowed, compared with a region where it's not.
She also says females are more productive in areas where there's hunting.
The Alberta government recently implemented a three-year ban on the spring grizzly hunt after a survey suggested the number of the bears was considerably lower than previously thought.
With files from the Canadian Press
