DNRE officials study bear movement as growing number relocate into southern Michigan
Members of the Michigan DNRE prepare to weigh a large male black bear before putting a GPS collar on it. (Cory Olsen | The Grand Rapids Press) Michigan DNRE darts bear, connects GPS collar gallery (18 photos)
A 6-year-old black bear lay between them as they kneeled in the deep snow. It was alive and sedated. They had pulled it from its den to be examined.
It was a common Michigan black bear, but this one was unusual. The 297-pound boar wore a radio tracking collar. But more important was that it had denned up near an agricultural area, rather than in deep forest cover to the north.
The bear is one of a growing number that are moving out of northern breeding grounds into southern Michigan, according to state wildlife scientists. Etter and his colleagues had been following the bear since 2010. It was collared after a local resident called in its whereabouts and is now a subject in a study of bear movement in Michigan.
"A few years back we had a bear that wandered into Portland," said Etter, the state's chief bear researcher with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment. "It seemed to have come down the Maple River and was found sleeping in the graveyard of the town of Portland."
State wildlife officials say black bear have appeared in Flint, Battle Creek, even Toledo in recent years. They have turned up in Jackson and Washtenaw counties, in Saginaw and with regularity just north of Ionia and Grand Rapids. Just how they move across the developing landscape is something Etter and others hope to better understand.
On this cold, sunny day with glistening snow, Etter and his crew were removing a radio collar from the sedated bear. It was to be replaced with a GPS collar, which would provide highly detailed information about its future travels. The research, which began in 2010 in Michigan, is a joint effort with the University of Wisconsin, where biologists are studying Wisconsin bear that also are moving south out of traditional northern bear habitat.
Scientists in both states hope to learn more about changing food preferences and subsequent reproductive success. The information will help them predict where bear may show up next.
"We know bear are moving into southern Michigan," Etter said. "We're trying to collar bear in agricultural lands. This is fringe forest and agricultural land. There is quite a bit of farming going on around here, corn beans and asparagus. All are potential food sources for bear.
"What we will learn (from the GPS data) is how and where they are moving. Are they moving through agricultural fields or just cutting cross country."
Karl Malcomb, with the University of Wisconsin in Madison, began studying the trend in 2005. He said female bear moving into southern Wisconsin agricultural areas are proving to be "extremely productive." They produce litters every year rather than alternate years, as northern bears do, and they produce litters at age 2 rather than 3 or 4. One reason is agricultural areas provide "a huge food source," he said. "One bear I see here had a litter with five cubs, which is huge," Malcomb said. "All survived to 1 year old and then dispersed. She had five more the next season." Etter said a collared female now in its winter den five miles north of the group's location this day had produced a three-cub litter in 2010 and another litter this year, also with three cubs.
The sedated male lying in the snow in front of him may or may not be the breeder, he said. However, he and the collared female are the two southernmost bear being tracked in Michigan. There are 15 to 20 radio-collared bear in Upper Peninsula, Etter said. Another eight to 10 are in the northern Lower Peninsula.
Finding denned bear is a challenge in southern Michigan, Etter said. He is encouraging residents to contact him about any active bear dens.
The Michigan bear population is estimated between 9,000 and 11,000 statewide. Eighty percent to 90 percent live in the U.P., according to Adam Bump, the DNRE bear program specialist. The northern Lower Peninsula is home to 95 percent of the rest.
Bump said Michigan's overall population has increased over the past two decades. The agency gets 10 to 30 reports of southern Michigan bear sightings annually. Some appear to have been born in the region.
LIVING WITH BEARS
At home• Remove food attractants such as bird feeders and pet food around your home during summer
• Clean your outdoor grill after use
• Store garbage properly in bear-resistant or bear proof containers or in a locked shed, etc.
• Have garbage picked up regularly and keep garbage secured until the morning of pickup
Urban encounters
• Remain calm
• Contact local law enforcement or the DNRE
• Do not approach bear or remain in vicinity of bear
• Help keep others away from the bear even if its in a tree
• Do not allow crowds to form or create loud noises.
• Most bears in urban areas will leave if they feel safe enough to leave shelter (such as a tree) and have a clear path of escape
• Allow law enforcement or DNRE to respond and follow their instructions
Source: Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment
Connect: To report bear den sightings or bear seen in southern Michigan, call Dwayne Etter a the MDNRE Rose Lake Wildlife Research Station 517-641-7167, ext. 256
The state's 2008 bear management plan, approved by the Natural Resources Commission, calls for allowing the bear population to expand naturally, Bump said. More bear in the landscape, however, will require additional public education.
Social tolerance for bear is much lower in the southern part of the state than the north. Southern Michigan residents are not used to seeing bruins, he said. They view them with curiosity and fear, where northern Michigan residents are more used to having them visit.
Hunting them, he said, could become an option if the southern population grows to a point people cannot tolerate their presence.
"Once people get accustomed to them they are easy to live with," Bump said. "If you'd asked me a few years ago, I'd have said we have 12 bear in southern Michigan, but I think there are a lot more than we are aware of."
The bear in front of Etter was down for the count. Its radio collar had led researchers to a natural recess created by fallen timber, laden with snow. Etter's team members had tranquilized the animal common compounds used on pets by veterinarians, according to Etter.
The bear was expected to sleep for two to three hours, enough time to let researchers change its collar, examine and weigh it and take a small sample of its hair. The fur would provide DNA information that would help determine whether and how far its gene pool spread into the region. Two hours would be enough time also to allow the bear to be returned to its den, where it would wake without human's present.
But it was only an hour out, perhaps, when someone noticed the bear's breathing was no longer slow and relaxed. The bear's ears soon began to twitch. Small head motions followed. It was coming to. With the work done, Etter gave the word that it was time to return it to its den and move along.
Etter didn't have to ask twice.
Michigan DNRE attaches GPS locator to black bear The DNRE darted a male black bear and replaced its radio collar with a GPS collar so they'll be able to gain information about how it moves and when. 
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