Post by smoltguy74 on Oct 25, 2007 9:57:39 GMT -5
I know this isn't about fishing, but I thought you guys would find this very interesting.
The big game biologist, Tim Spierto, for Region 9 out of Olean gave the presentation, . He has worked a number of years for the DEC and he is probably one of the top bear biologists in the state. Kind of laughing, he said “if a bear gets tree’d in East Aurora at 2 am, I am the one that responds to it”. He said that with the population increase the past few years he pretty much spends 100% of his time from March to October investigating bear complaints, sightings, vehicle accidents, etc. etc. (along with two technicians).
A couple of the main points were:
- since 1970, there has been a 10 fold increase in the bear population in the Allegheny and Catskill region. So much that, they now consider these two populations as one. They are certain that since they are so widespread the two populations have merged.
- from 1995 - 2007, the bear range has doubled across Southern New York. Or in other words, the population is creeping north.
- female bears have a 10 sq. mi. home range, males have a 100 sq. mi. home range. If the male's area is interspersed with woodland and farm/pasture land, their home ranges can increase to 200 sq. mi.
- The Adirondack bear population has remained stable over current times but the southern range is growing (see above). He said this is basically due to PA. PA has a stable (albeit saturated) bear population. When the cubs, (that were born around NY's border) get kicked out by their mother, they cant go west (Lake Erie) and they can't really go south or east because they enter established bear territories, so the only option is north into NY. He said most of the problem bears for us are the young males looking for new territories.
- He said that “Albany” puts the bear population around 500 in the Allegany region, but personally he feels it is about double that.
- Vehicular accidents with bears in Region 9 has increased from 6 last year to 16 so far this year.
They have a management plan for NY bears, which is a work in progress, so they are and will be looking for public input into how WE would like to see the bears managed. He emphasized that the bears belong to the citizens of NY and the state won’t just go and manage them based on their own ideas, they want the publics input also.
Now, for our homework!! He is very interested in any new sightings, especially north of Cattaraugus Creek and ANY dead bears (natural or vehicular). He tries to investigate ALL dead bears in our area. He looks at a vestigial tooth that grows like a tree in terms of laying down rings. He can age with it and with females he can also tell when they matured, how many litters they have had over their lifetime, and even a good guess as to how big the litters were.
Again, just thought some of you would find this interesting. If you find out there is another presentation in the future near you, I recommend you go to it. He is very knowledgeable about our bear population and a great public speaker.
The big game biologist, Tim Spierto, for Region 9 out of Olean gave the presentation, . He has worked a number of years for the DEC and he is probably one of the top bear biologists in the state. Kind of laughing, he said “if a bear gets tree’d in East Aurora at 2 am, I am the one that responds to it”. He said that with the population increase the past few years he pretty much spends 100% of his time from March to October investigating bear complaints, sightings, vehicle accidents, etc. etc. (along with two technicians).
A couple of the main points were:
- since 1970, there has been a 10 fold increase in the bear population in the Allegheny and Catskill region. So much that, they now consider these two populations as one. They are certain that since they are so widespread the two populations have merged.
- from 1995 - 2007, the bear range has doubled across Southern New York. Or in other words, the population is creeping north.
- female bears have a 10 sq. mi. home range, males have a 100 sq. mi. home range. If the male's area is interspersed with woodland and farm/pasture land, their home ranges can increase to 200 sq. mi.
- The Adirondack bear population has remained stable over current times but the southern range is growing (see above). He said this is basically due to PA. PA has a stable (albeit saturated) bear population. When the cubs, (that were born around NY's border) get kicked out by their mother, they cant go west (Lake Erie) and they can't really go south or east because they enter established bear territories, so the only option is north into NY. He said most of the problem bears for us are the young males looking for new territories.
- He said that “Albany” puts the bear population around 500 in the Allegany region, but personally he feels it is about double that.
- Vehicular accidents with bears in Region 9 has increased from 6 last year to 16 so far this year.
They have a management plan for NY bears, which is a work in progress, so they are and will be looking for public input into how WE would like to see the bears managed. He emphasized that the bears belong to the citizens of NY and the state won’t just go and manage them based on their own ideas, they want the publics input also.
Now, for our homework!! He is very interested in any new sightings, especially north of Cattaraugus Creek and ANY dead bears (natural or vehicular). He tries to investigate ALL dead bears in our area. He looks at a vestigial tooth that grows like a tree in terms of laying down rings. He can age with it and with females he can also tell when they matured, how many litters they have had over their lifetime, and even a good guess as to how big the litters were.
Again, just thought some of you would find this interesting. If you find out there is another presentation in the future near you, I recommend you go to it. He is very knowledgeable about our bear population and a great public speaker.
