Grand Rapids sighting raises questions about bears for Michigan DNR researchers
The small black bear that was killed on the highway in Grand Rapids last week could well be a resident bear -- or then again, maybe not.
"We are starting to get a little information back and it is raising more questions than answers," said Dwayne Etter, the chief bear researcher for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Etter knows of bears that have traveled 150 miles. He had six southern Michigan bears collared with a GPS. Each collar had a small GPS unit that transmitted its location. Five or those six bear were in West Michigan. The other was in Merill near Midland.
Two, he said, were of particular interest. They were 2-year-old animals. One, a 150-pound male, was collared near Whitehall last April. Unfortunately, the GPS malfunctioned and no signal data could be gathered during flyovers of its suspected range. That is, until this fall. That's when the bear was killed during the hunting season and the collar was recovered. The results were illuminating.
"It spent the month of April hitting birdfeeders up and down the coast, and then in May, went up the White River and veered off into the Muskegon River corridor," Etter said. "He went over to Houghton Lake and settled right in.
"The other male was collared in Merrill. In April, it moved north. It veered over to Mount Pleasant then turned northeast and made a beeline to an area in southern Alpena County on the north side of the AuSable River. It wandered around there a little bit then came part way down and settled in Roscommon County about 50 miles from where we collared him."
That bear also was killed by hunters in September. Its GPS collar was retrieved and the data it provided showed a clear and detailed travel route. But it did not tell Etter how the story began: where it had been before getting collared.
"The bear from Whitehall knew where he was going," Etter said. "Based on the GPS track we know he went up the river corridor and bang, settles right in. It makes me wonder what his situation is. Was he born in Alpena County and got bumped out by big males?
"He probably came down here as a yearling when he got pushed out. There are not many bears down here beating him up and there is lots of food and then he woke up in spring and had the urge to mate."
It's speculation, of course, but call it informed speculation. The story that time and further research may show is black bears, to some extent, are independent and social animals.
"Maybe they get down south and don't find other bear and may want to be around other bear and go back north. It raises questions about why bear move such long distances," Etter said.
"We know that bear in other parts of the country will move 75 miles, but that movement is connected to breeding activity. Our thinking is more and more along those lines.
"The GPS data is fascinating. You can see one animal moves along a path and another unrelated animal moves along the same path. It raises questions about whether they are scent trailing each other or whether there is something genetic that lets them know where to walk."
That's what state wildlife officials are saying. Basically, they don't know. However, new research on Michigan black bears is making clear the bruins travel greater distances than previously thought. Wildlife officials are using GPS technology to understand bear migration routes. And the data they are gathering is fascinating and perplexing.
"We are starting to get a little information back and it is raising more questions than answers," said Dwayne Etter, the chief bear researcher for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Etter knows of bears that have traveled 150 miles. He had six southern Michigan bears collared with a GPS. Each collar had a small GPS unit that transmitted its location. Five or those six bear were in West Michigan. The other was in Merill near Midland.
Two, he said, were of particular interest. They were 2-year-old animals. One, a 150-pound male, was collared near Whitehall last April. Unfortunately, the GPS malfunctioned and no signal data could be gathered during flyovers of its suspected range. That is, until this fall. That's when the bear was killed during the hunting season and the collar was recovered. The results were illuminating.
"It spent the month of April hitting birdfeeders up and down the coast, and then in May, went up the White River and veered off into the Muskegon River corridor," Etter said. "He went over to Houghton Lake and settled right in.
"The other male was collared in Merrill. In April, it moved north. It veered over to Mount Pleasant then turned northeast and made a beeline to an area in southern Alpena County on the north side of the AuSable River. It wandered around there a little bit then came part way down and settled in Roscommon County about 50 miles from where we collared him."
That bear also was killed by hunters in September. Its GPS collar was retrieved and the data it provided showed a clear and detailed travel route. But it did not tell Etter how the story began: where it had been before getting collared.
"The bear from Whitehall knew where he was going," Etter said. "Based on the GPS track we know he went up the river corridor and bang, settles right in. It makes me wonder what his situation is. Was he born in Alpena County and got bumped out by big males?
"He probably came down here as a yearling when he got pushed out. There are not many bears down here beating him up and there is lots of food and then he woke up in spring and had the urge to mate."
It's speculation, of course, but call it informed speculation. The story that time and further research may show is black bears, to some extent, are independent and social animals.
"Maybe they get down south and don't find other bear and may want to be around other bear and go back north. It raises questions about why bear move such long distances," Etter said.
"We know that bear in other parts of the country will move 75 miles, but that movement is connected to breeding activity. Our thinking is more and more along those lines.
"The GPS data is fascinating. You can see one animal moves along a path and another unrelated animal moves along the same path. It raises questions about whether they are scent trailing each other or whether there is something genetic that lets them know where to walk."
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