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Michigan DNR cougar team shares the status of cougars in the Upper Peninsula

This article was published by Nexstar Media Inc. in UP Matters.
https://www.upmatters.com/outdoors/michigan-dnr-cougar-team-shares-the-status-of-cougars-in-the-upper-peninsula/

MICHIGAN (WJMN) – Cougars were originally native to Michigan and at one point were legal to hunt, but now they are listed as endangered.

Occasionally there are cougar sightings in Michigan, in 2008 the Michigan Department of Resources formed a team to confirm and monitor sightings of cougars in the state according to Cody Norton, MDNR large carnivore specialist.

“Cougars are native in the state of Michigan our last legally harvested cougar was back in 1906 near Newberry after that it was pretty quiet in the state but in the late 90s, early 2000s we started having more you know some reports come up that look like ‘hey this might be consistent with cougar’ either signs or photographs but the department didn’t have a protocol in place for how to investigate those or determine whether they were real or not and we didn’t necessarily have people with the expertise to do it so in 2008 the department formed a cougar team,” said Norton.

Brian Roell, MDNR wildlife biologist, says biologists on the team are spread throughout the state because sightings are reported from all over.

“What we do is, we look independently at the evidence presented to us and basically decide whether that is a cougar or not,” said Roell. “Some of the pictures are very obvious where you’re like ‘ok that’s a cougar that’s great,’ those are the easy ones but surprisingly we get a lot of fuzzy pictures too that maybe aren’t as clear and we get a lot of other animals as well that are thought to be cougars from bobcats to dogs to domestic cats it’s kind of all over the board.”

All confirmed cougar sightings in the U.P. have been young males so far. Biologists say they have not seen any signs of breeding.

“I think what’s really interesting is you know we don’t believe we have a cougar population here, we have no record of any females and no record of any reproduction but one of the things that’s kind of interesting and cool about cougars showing up here in Michigan is they’re likely from the South Dakota population of cougars which is the closest population of cougars to Michigan,” said Kristie Sitar, MDNR wildlife biologist. “So they’re likely from South Dakota and they’re coming through here it tends to be males all the instances when we’ve either had a cougar in hand from an illegal harvest or been able to tell from the photograph or the video the sex of the animal, they’ve always been males.”

Shelby Adams, MDNR wildlife biologist, says that all but one of the sightings have been in the Upper Peninsula. The only confirmed cougar sighting in the Lower Peninsula was in the Southern region.

“There’s a lot of interest in the Northern Lower in particular about especially during the winter if we get ice across the water and cougars were able to sort of walk across that ice bridge as it would be called and if they were to sort of enter the Northern lower we’d want to know if they’re present or not,” said Adams. “So we’re very interested in the potential being in that area, there’s people that report that they see them but so far we have not had any evidence that there have been any cougars in the Northern Lower at this time.”

To confirm sightings there has to be verifiable evidence for DNR staff to check, that can be either pictures, tracks or scat.

“In order to confirm something we do have to have that verifiable evidence and that’s just because we need it to be able to stand up and hold up some weight of what we’re saying is present or not so you know we are scientists we are going to always be looking, if we’re saying somethings there, we want to know that we have proof that it’s there,” said Adams. “And what we’ve seen from the U.P. is an excellent example, when cougars are somewhere there is evidence.”

An increase in the use of trail cameras and smartphones in recent years has helped make confirming sightings easier.

“If you look back closer to 2008 when the team was formed a lot of our sign that we were going off of or investigating were tracks you know somebody might find a track in the middle of the woods, we might ask them to put a 5-gallon bucket upside down over it so it doesn’t get rained on or swept by the wind or melted out if it’s in the snow,” said Norton. “And then, somebody had to try to go and get a glimpse of that track before it disappeared.”

Roell says the sightings they confirm also go into a database for other researchers to look at.

“We’re looking at the locations where cougars are popping up and we’re using that data to look at occupancy and to look at habitat analysis to see where in the U.P. is suitable for a cougar to live,” said Roell.

Most recently, researchers from the State University of New York, Campfire Program in Wildlife Conservation used some of the data to look at cougar movement in the Great Lakes Region overall. Jerrold Belant, professor at the State University of New York in the College of Environmental Science and Forestry, says they only use sightings that are confirmed by state resource agencies, like the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

“From the period of 2010 until 2020 overall combined across the three-state region of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan 180 sightings were used in the analysis,” said Belant.

Mariela Gantchoff, post-doctoral research associate at the State University of New York in the College of Environmental Science and Forestry, says 40 of the sightings were from the Upper Peninsula.

“What we’re doing is basically trying to identify what sort of areas are cougars occurring, what areas are they being sighted,” said Gantchoff. “And to do that we look at, is it a natural area? Is it an urban area? Is there elevation? Is it a flat area? Is it a rugged area? How far is it close or far from water? And so far what we’re seeing is that they are occurring more in natural areas so forests, shrublands, grasslands and in areas that are very rugged. So they seem to prefer not flat areas but areas with some sort of slope and they also like areas that have a lot of vegetation growth and productivity and likely prey even though that can vary.”

Belant says males do tend to be the first to move into an area in recolonization but that it can take decades or more time.

“The process of a recolonizing large carnivore is fascinating both from an ecological perspective because they have such a strong impact on the ecosystem but also, like Jerry was saying, on society,” said Gantchoff. “That people have very strong feelings about large carnivores so it’s always important to know where they are and the potential for conflict.”

Belant and Gantchoff analyzed data from the last 10 years of reported sightings. Gantchoff says continued analysis will be necessary because recolonization is a process. If, eventually, they find evidence of reproduction then they will need to reassess because established animals tend to prefer different areas than dispersing animals.

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources accepts reports of cougars through a form on their cougar webpage. There are other animals that the DNR accepts reports of including moose, wolves, lynx and more.

Top 100 Scientific Reports ecology papers in 2020

Scientific Reports Top 100 graphic logo

Our research article Mortality of a large wide-ranging mammal largely caused by anthropogenic activities received 1,846 article downloads in 2020, placing it as one of the top 100 downloaded ecology papers for Scientific Reports in 2020.

Scientific Reports published more than 500 ecology papers in 2020, and so a position in the top 100 most downloaded articles is an extraordinary achievement – this scientific research is of real value to the research community. All of the most downloaded articles within this category can be accessed by visiting Top 100 in Ecology page.

Full article:
Gantchoff, M.G., J.E. Hill, K.F. Kellner, N.L. Fowler, T.R. Petroelje, L. Conlee, D.E. Beyer Jr., and J.L. Belant. 2020. Mortality of a large wide-ranging mammal largely caused by anthropogenic activities.  Scientific Reports 10:8498. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-65290-9

Missouri Black Bears

Trail camera image of GPS collared black bear smelling tree.
Trail camera image of GPS collared black bear in Missouri. Photo credit Missouri Department of Conservation.

This article was published by Francis Skalicky in the Missouri Conservationist Magazine.
https://mdc.mo.gov/conmag/2021-02/missouri-black-bears

From anomaly to a normality — that’s the journey black bears have traveled in many parts of southern Missouri.

Evidence shows black bear numbers are growing and range is expanding in the state, which provides proof that Ursus americanus is becoming firmly established in Missouri. A growing bear population in 21st-century Missouri provides both charm and challenge for the state’s residents. It’s all part of living in bear country and becoming bear aware.

“The black bear population is growing rapidly and expanding into new areas,” said Laura Conlee, an animal resource scientist for the Missouri Department of Conservation and the state’s bear biologist. “Right now, our bears are choosy and select highquality forested habitat, but we know they are adaptable and capable of using more marginal areas, which can bring them closer to human habitation.”

To be clear, there are still many people who have not seen a bear in Missouri’s outdoors. Biologists estimated the state’s bear population in 2019 was around 700 bears statewide, with a statewide minimum estimated population of around 540 bears and a maximum estimated population of around 840 bears. Bears occur at a low density throughout a good portion of their range. However, research shows Missouri’s bear population is growing at a rate of about 9 percent per year, which means it could double in a decade.

Along with the scientific data, there’s also plenty of citizen science information about Missouri’s bear population in the form of the number of bear sightings — a number that has steadily increased in the past decade. These sightings include accounts of bears being seen in both rural and urban areas.

These sightings include:

  • In 2016, a bear that had been tagged in Christian County two years earlier was seen in Warren County, which meant this bear had crossed the Missouri River. This bear then traveled back to southern Missouri and was tracked to Cape Girardeau County in southeast Missouri, a true testament to a bear’s wandering abilities.
  • In 2018, footage was taken of a bear walking through a residential area of Ballwin, a St. Louis suburb in St. Louis County.

THE SCIENCE OF BEARS

These and other sightings support the notion that Missouri’s black bear population is growing and expanding its range. This anecdotal evidence is backed by a decade of scientific bear research conducted by MDC biologists with the assistance of researchers from several universities.

“Each member of the bear research team brings a different skillset to the table, which has resulted in an exceptional study that will be used to inform management decisions related to bears over the next decade,” Conlee said.

Missouri’s bear research efforts began in earnest in 2010 with research efforts that included trapping and radio-collaring females and collecting fur samples from hair snares at a number of sites in southern Missouri. Much of the research efforts have continued through 2020.

Each year, biologists put GPS collars on female bears to monitor annual survival and track them to winter dens to study reproductive success, litter sex ratios, and cub survival — all of which are important factors that influence bear population growth. MDC staff and research cooperators have determined that Missouri’s female bears give birth to an average of two cubs, about 60 percent of females reproduce each year, and about 70 percent of male cubs and 90 percent of female cubs survive to age 1. Additionally, adult female bears have high annual survival rates. GPS collars are also used to monitor home ranges, habitat use and connectivity, and the impacts of habitat on how the population is expanding in the state. All of the data collected has been used to study the growth of the bear population and how bears use Missouri’s landscape.

MDC’s research has revealed several things about Missouri’s bear population:

  1. The bear population is growing rapidly.
  2. Missouri has a lot of quality bear habitat.
  3. Citizen science reports, coupled with the population and habitat research, help illustrate the adaptability and range expansion that is occurring as bears recolonize parts of Missouri.

WATCHING A COMEBACK

“From an ecology perspective, one of the most exciting aspects of studying black bears in Missouri has been the rare opportunity to understand how a large carnivore can reoccupy its former range. Recovery of black bears in Missouri is an important conservation success,” said Dr. Jerry Belant, Camp Fire Conservation Fund Professor at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY ESF), who directs an interdisciplinary team that researches wildlife issues.

Belant has assisted MDC in its bear studies and has also worked on bear research projects in other states. “From a bear perspective, much of Missouri, particularly southern Missouri, is amazing habitat for black bears.” he continued. “Though bears overall certainly select for broad habitat features such as forests, their ability to occupy diverse areas of Missouri is remarkable.”

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION

As research and citizen sightings indicate, it doesn’t always require perfect habitat conditions for a bear to appear. Bears can adapt, and as the population grows, bears may be more likely to use marginal habitats, such as forests that are fragmented by agriculture or residential areas. Missouri already has bears that venture into residential areas in search of food and dispersing bears that wander into areas outside of typical bear range.

“We can think of the bear sightings we’re seeing now ‘outside of the normal range’ as sort of preliminary forays by males into these areas, which will likely be accompanied, down the line, by reproductive females as the population establishes itself in new places”, said Dr. Melanie Boudreau, a research scientist with Mississippi State University, who has been working on Missouri’s bear project, including analyzing black bear habitat use and human-bear conflict data.

“Missouri is an area of range expansion for bears,” said Dr. Mariela Gantchoff, a research scientist from SUNY ESF who works with Dr. Belant on Missouri’s bear study. “That means there are bears who are established, mostly in southern Missouri, but there are also bears — particularly young bears — that are performing large-scale movements throughout the landscape looking for places to live. In those excursions, sometimes they run into urban-suburban areas.”

MANAGING BLACK BEARS

MDC’s research is used to inform management decisions, as laid out in MDC’s Black Bear Management Plan.

“Use science-based methods to manage a self-sustaining population of black bears, a native species, while minimizing human-bear conflict, increasing bear awareness, and providing recreational opportunities for all Missourians.” As this statement indicates, Missouri’s bear data isn’t being used solely to learn how bears are doing in the state. It’s also meant to provide a framework for how bears and humans can cope with each other. For example, using data from these studies, researchers have been able to combine human-bear conflict reports with bear habitat use data to help understand which communities may be at an increased likelihood of experiencing human-bear conflicts as the bear population grows, which can help MDC prioritize community bear-related outreach efforts.

The population model that was developed as part of this study will be used to understand the impacts of harvest on population growth and to aid in the development of future permit and harvest quota recommendations. Bear habitatuse and connectivity information can be used to help inform habitat management practices or to help conserve important habitat linkages.

Adding to MDC’s body of research on bears, MDC is undergoing a human dimension survey of residents through the survey firm Responsive Management. The purpose of this survey is to get a detailed understanding of Missourians’ knowledge, opinions, tolerances, and views on bears. This, in turn, would provide MDC with information to consider aspects, such as social carrying capacity (the number of bears Missourians will tolerate on the landscape), tolerance levels for nuisance activity, options for sharing black bear educational information, and opinions on harvest methodologies when making management decisions.

A HISTORY OF BEARS IN MISSOURI

Before talking further about where Missouri’s black bear population is going, it would be appropriate to talk about where it’s been.

When the first settlers came to Missouri, black bears (the only species of bear found in Missouri) ranged across most of the state. As Missouri became settled, the state’s black bear population dwindled. By the end of the 19th century, unregulated hunting had reduced Missouri’s bear population to a small number found only in remote parts of the state. By the mid- 1900s, it was presumed black bears had completely disappeared from the state.

But the black bear’s story in Missouri wasn’t finished. Beginning in 1958 and continuing into the 1960s, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission trapped more than 200 bears in Minnesota and Manitoba, Canada, and relocated them to Arkansas to bolster the small population still thought to be roaming the state. This population took hold and wandering bears from Arkansas eventually began appearing in Missouri. It is thought most of the bears seen in Missouri today are the result of Arkansas’ reintroduction program, although genetic evidence collected in bear studies in Missouri suggest a small, remnant population may have held on in the remote parts of this state.

In fact, because of sound management and conservation practices, bear populations have expanded from low points in the early-mid 1900s in many areas of the U.S. Missouri’s bear population remains part of a much larger bear population that occurs in Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma.

LIFE WITH BEARS

Regardless of their heritage, there’s no doubt that bears are part of Missouri’s outdoors landscape today. As they roam across the landscape searching for food, mates, and homes, their journeys sometimes cross paths with humans. Seeing a bear on a hiking or hunting trip usually doesn’t pose much of a problem — there’s enough space for you to avoid it and it to avoid you. However, when a curious bear starts to explore around your home, that’s where problems can begin.

“As black bear and human populations increase across the state, so will black bear-human conflicts,” Belant said. “Education about black bears and how to reduce the risk of conflict is key to ensuring we can live with this large Missouri native wildlife species.”

Most problems people have with bears come when bears raid garbage cans, bird feeders, campgrounds, or other areas where humans have provided material (bird feed, garbage in an unsecured trash can, pet food, cattle feed, etc.) that can be food for bears. The trouble is compounded when bears are purposely fed by people. If a bear visits an area and is rewarded with food, it is almost certain to return. On these return trips, bears can cause substantial damage to buildings, trailers, vehicles, and any other structure that gets in their way of finding food. Thus, if a bear is finding food at a home, the homeowner should figure out if there’s a way that food source can be eliminated or bear-proofed. Bears should never be purposely fed. “If people can look at their yard and say to themselves ‘I should remove that bird feeder now before a bear finds it,’ we are in a much better place than if someone calls and wonders why they just saw a bear walk off with their bird feeder,” said Conlee.

As Conlee points out, the challenge bears present to Missouri’s landowners is the offshoot of a good thing — it means that bears have returned to Missouri and should be considered a significant conservation success. And, while the comeback of bears in the Show-Me State comes with challenges, there are also solutions.

“In Missouri, people should be very proud — they have conserved large tracts of forests within our beautiful state, making space for wildlife for this and future generations to enjoy,” she said. “As such, there is a lot of prime habitat for bears to use, which has facilitated population recovery. While this also means there will be more bears around to potentially go into human spaces, MDC can work with the public to minimize negative bear interactions and ensure that humans and bears can share this great state for generations to come.”

Dr. Jerrold Belant Named IUCN Voting Member

Dr. Jerrold Belant

This press release was published by ESF Communications and Marketing.
https://www.esf.edu/communications/view2.asp?newsID=8812

Dr. Jerrold Belant, Camp Fire Conservation Fund professor and director of ESF’s recently formed Global Wildlife Conservation Center (GWCC), was named a voting member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

The IUCN is the most influential international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. It is involved in data gathering and analysis, research, field projects, advocacy and education.

“My ability to serve as a voting member of this organization on behalf of ESF and the GWCC will allow us to more effectively address urgent conservation challenges, helping to ensure environmental integrity and sustainable use of our natural resources now and in the future” wrote Belant in an email.

Belant has been involved in several international conservation organizations, including current membership in IUCN’s Species Survival Commission and former chair of their Small Carnivore Specialist Group. He also served as an organizational member of the International Federation of Mammalogists and board member of the International Association for Bear Research and Management.

Belant has participated on the editorial boards of numerous journals, and currently is an Editorial Board member for Bioscience. He has received more than $15 million in external grants, co-edited three books, and along with his students and collaborators, published almost 300 peer-reviewed articles. He has conducted or participated in several global conservation assessments, including human-caused mortality of the world’s terrestrial animals and how human development has influenced animal movements. At present, he is working to assess the response of wildlife worldwide to COVID-19, global trade in threatened species, and assessing the effectiveness of IUCN’s approach for assessing suitable habitat for species.

IUCN members meet every four years at the World Conservation Congress to adopt the IUCN program and budget for the Union, establish the mandates for its commissions, elect the councillors and chairs of the commissions, and adopt policy directives.

Wolf Pups Born on Isle Royale

Two Wolf Pups Trot Down A Trail surrounded by low bushes.

Images taken in late September 2019 from a remote camera show two pups likely born to wolf 014F in spring 2019, Isle Royale National Park. Photo by NPS.

This press release was published by the National Park Service.
https://www.nps.gov/isro/learn/news/wolf-pups-born-on-isle-royale.htm

 

HOUGHTON, MICH – Isle Royale National Park and State University of New York-College of Environmental Sciences and Forestry (SUNY-ESF) have documented reproduction for wolves introduced to Isle Royale in 2018 and 2019, a key element of the National Park Service wolf introduction program’s success, https://globalwildlifecc.org/research/species-recovery/isle-royale-wolf-recovery. GPS collar data and images from remote cameras suggest pups were born in 2019 and 2020. An exact number of pups is yet to be determined.

GPS collar data from female wolf 014F, translocated from Michipicoten Island, Ontario, in March 2019 suggested denning in spring 2019. This wolf established several rendezvous sites that spring and summer. Images from a remote camera taken on September 29, 2019, reveal that wolf 014F likely gave birth to at least two pups. In addition, researchers at Michigan Technological University (MTU) observed a likely pup in February 2020, https://isleroyalewolf.org.

Genetic analyses of scats collected at one of the rendezvous sites will be conducted and if pups are confirmed, it suggests wolf 014F likely was pregnant before translocation to Isle Royale. We have no other evidence that reproduction occurred in 2019.

Analyses of GPS location data for wolf reproduction in 2020 supported denning activity in early April for female wolf 001F. This wolf, captured on the Grand Portage Indian Reservation in northeastern Minnesota, was the first wolf translocated to Isle Royale in September 2018. Her GPS collar attempted to obtain locations during early April 2020 but failed, indicating the collar was underground or in dense vegetation. Investigations of the den site in June 2020, after wolves had moved away, resulted in biologists collecting 18 pup-sized scats. Genetic analysis conducted on these scats will help to determine the minimum number of pups born to wolf 001F.

Additionally, in July 2020, researchers obtained images from a remote camera of a single pup. Only a few hours later, an image of a single adult wolf at that same site was identified. Based on GPS data, this pup was born to female wolf 014F or 015F. Visitors reported pup-sized tracks near this same location in early August and MTU researchers collected 13 pup-sized scats nearby which will assist in determining the minimum number of pups in this litter.

“We can estimate the minimum number of pups born annually from scats collected at den and rendezvous sites, as well as monitor the genetic health of the population through time,” said Mark Romanski, NPS biologist and wolf introduction program coordinator at the park.

“Documenting reproduction is critical to the success of any introduction effort. In contrast to 2019 where female wolf 014F was likely pregnant before translocation, the breeding and rearing of two litters of pups this spring was a major step toward their recovery. We will continue to evaluate reproduction and recruitment of Isle Royale’s wolves using multiple lines of evidence including GPS collar data, remote cameras, DNA from wolf scats, and observations.” noted Dr. Jerry Belant, SUNY- ESF professor assisting the NPS with characterizing the wolf introduction program. Continuing to track this population closely will allow the NPS and its collaborators to evaluate the long-term success of the introduction and how wolves impact the ecosystem.

By 2018, with the wolf population at Isle Royale down to only 2, the National Park Service (NPS) and partners initiated an introduction, releasing 19 wolves at Isle Royale National Park from September 2018 through September 2019. Today, the NPS and research collaborator, SUNY- ESF released a summary report of the introduction effort so far.  Using location data retrieved from global positioning system (GPS) collars, scientists monitored important aspects of wolf ecology, such as social organization, summer predation, mortality, and reproduction to determine the success of the project.  The NPS and research partners estimated as many as 14 wolves were present on Isle Royale as of April 2020.“We are grateful to all our partners who worked tirelessly to support this historic restoration effort and we look forward to continuing our numerous collaborations that are helping to ensure we meet our objectives for restoring this apex predator to the Isle Royale ecosystem. We will now evaluate the program’s efforts to date to determine whether further translocations are warranted,” said Superintendent Denice Swanke, Isle Royale National Park.To learn more about Isle Royale’s wolves and the introduction efforts, you can watch CuriosityStream’s original film Breakthrough: Return of the Wolves https://curiositystream.com/returnofthewolves, produced in partnership with the National Parks of Lake Superior Foundation https://nplsf.org/, and read the recently published summary report at https://www.nps.gov/isro/index.htm.

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About the National Park Service. More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for the 417 parks in the National Park System and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. Visit us at www.nps.gov, on Facebook www.facebook.com/nationalparkservice, Twitter www.twitter.com/natlparkservice, and YouTube www.youtube.com/nationalparkservice. 

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