Visitor Counter

hitwebcounter web counter
Visitors Since Blog Created in March 2010

Click Below to:

Add Blog to Favorites

Coyotes-Wolves-Cougars.blogspot.com

Grizzly bears, black bears, wolves, coyotes, cougars/ mountain lions,bobcats, wolverines, lynx, foxes, fishers and martens are the suite of carnivores that originally inhabited North America after the Pleistocene extinctions. This site invites research, commentary, point/counterpoint on that suite of native animals (predator and prey) that inhabited The Americas circa 1500-at the initial point of European exploration and subsequent colonization. Landscape ecology, journal accounts of explorers and frontiersmen, genetic evaluations of museum animals, peer reviewed 20th and 21st century research on various aspects of our "Wild America" as well as subjective commentary from expert and layman alike. All of the above being revealed and discussed with the underlying goal of one day seeing our Continent rewilded.....Where big enough swaths of open space exist with connective corridors to other large forest, meadow, mountain, valley, prairie, desert and chaparral wildlands.....Thereby enabling all of our historic fauna, including man, to live in a sustainable and healthy environment. - Blogger Rick

Subscribe via email to get updates

Enter your email address:

Receive New Posting Alerts

(A Maximum of One Alert Per Day)

Sunday, July 31, 2011

Eastern Oklahoma Black Bears are on the comeback trail.......A two year study of the population is underway to understand their movement patterns and food sources .......10 bears will wear GPS collars and there will also be bait stations throughout the region that can capture hair samples to help in DNA studies of the bruins..............A growing population in Oklahoma and we applaud the Oklahoma Dept. Of Wildlife and Oklahoma State U. for following through on this study........They know that a healthy black bear population(a keystone species) is a strong indicator that Oklahoma's habitat is getting healthier for critters large and small including man

State Trapping Black Bears In Eastern Oklahoma



Oklahoma Department of Wildlife worker checking out the black bear cub.
Oklahoma Department of Wildlife worker checking out the black bear cub.


Researchers gather data from the sedated bears: things like measurements, weight and temperature
Researchers gather data from the sedated bears: things like measurements, weight and temperature


Researchers have trapped ten bears so far as part of the study. They've outfitted five of them with tracking collars.
Researchers have trapped ten bears so far as part of the study. They've outfitted five of them with tracking collars.
by: Craig Day

COOKSON, Oklahoma -- State Wildlife Department officials are trapping black bears in eastern Oklahoma. Deep in the woods of Cherokee County, researchers with the state wildlife department and OSU's cooperative fish and wildlife project are working on important research.This is the first part of a study of black bears in Northeastern Oklahoma."Having black bears is a great thing, but if you have black bears in your area, that means the habitat is good for many wildlife species," said Sara Lyda, OSU Researcher.

To keep better track of our growing bear population, researchers are trapping them, usually enticing bears with a donut. "Looks like it is in really good shape, it's got a nice coat on it, a little bit thin, but that's very typical of this time of year when food sources are limited," said Craig Endicott of the State Wildlife Department.

Researchers gather data from the sedated bears: things like measurements, weight and temperature. Hair and tissue samples are collected for DNA analysis.All of this that we put together will go to inform the wildlife department how to manage the black bear in this region," Lyda said.Some bears get tracking collars. Researchers hope to learn about their movement patterns, population size and other habits.

Researchers have trapped ten bears so far as part of the study. They've outfitted five of them with tracking collars."We've caught males in excess of 300 pounds and females around 200 pounds, that's more typical of what we'd expect of an adult bear," Endicott said.

The state wildlife department will keep checking traps throughout Northeastern Oklahoma over the next two and a half years, learning more about the bears, making a big comeback.

The researchers will also set up a couple of hundred bait stations in Eastern Oklahoma. They won't have traps, but will have hair snares, to get more hair for DNA samples. It will enable researchers to study more of the animals over a wider geographic area.

No comments: