Black bears (Ursus americanus) historically occurred throughout much of North Americas forested landscapes, but loss of critical habitat and overharvest significantly reduced abundance and distribution. In the southeastern United States, black bear conservation has become a high priority and restoration has been suggested y to recolonize suitable habitat. My study focused on evaluating restoration of the Louisiana black bear (U. americanus luteolus) to the Red River Complex (RRC) in east-central Louisiana. This involved translocating female bears with new born cubs from source populations within Louisiana and monitoring their movements, habitat use, and social acceptance of the restoration program to determine if restoration attempts should be continued. Females relocated using this method had restricted home ranges and movements during the initial 30-days following release, and established home ranges at the release site within 7 months. Females continued to den in the area they established home ranges through the following 2 winters. Vegetation measurements at used locations suggest that habitat suitability in the RRC similar to other areas considered highly suitable for bears in the Southeast. A survey of hunters within the RRC indicates that support for the project was high (> 70%) but knowledge about the restoration was low (< 60%), although public meetings were held prior to the release of bears to the area. This data indicates that restoration of the Louisiana black bear to the RRC is feasible and should be continued in an effort to establish a new breeding sub-population of bears in the region.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LSU/oai:etd.lsu.edu:etd-0526103-151738 |
| Date | 28 May 2003 |
| Creators | Van Why, Kyle Ryan |
| Contributors | Michael Chamberlain, Frank Rohwer, Brian Lockhart |
| Publisher | LSU |
| Source Sets | Louisiana State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-0526103-151738/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby grant to LSU or its agents the right to archive and to make available my thesis or dissertation in whole or in part in the University Libraries in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all proprietary rights, such as patent rights. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis or dissertation. |
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