A fascinating Michael Jamison article about wolverines in Glacier National Park and two significant stories about the local grizzly bear population were published this weekend. Click the story titles for the full text.
From the Saturday, 28 January, 2006 online edition of the Daily Inter Lake . . .
Just more than half the results are in, but they are revealing a remarkable picture of the Northern Continental Divide grizzly bear population.
The results are being gleaned from genetic analyses of 33,739 hair samples that were collected from rub trees and scent-baited snare sites that were spread over 8 million acres in summer 2004 . . .
And also in Saturday's Daily Inter Lake . . .
Agency: No delisting of grizzlies in Glacier area anytime soon
Although a formal effort is under way to delist the Yellowstone grizzly bear population, the Northern Continental Divide grizzly bear population is years from any possibility of delisting, said Chris Servheen, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service grizzly bear recovery coordinator.
The recovery plan for the larger Northern Continental Divide population will have to be revised to account for new research that is expected to provide a vastly improved assessment of the population’s status, Servheen said . . .
From the Sunday, January 29, 2006 online edition of the Missoulian . . .
Wolverines: Mystery wrapped in muscle
The slow and steady ring of steel on steel cracked winter's silence, hammer rising and falling with measured cadence as Rick Yates drove the great spike straight through a frozen beaver.
“Beaver's best,” he said between blows. “Lot's of fat and stink. They come with the tails on, usually.”
Yates is the lead field biologist on a project to study wolverines, and the beaver is his bait. He skied into this remote corner of Glacier National Park with carcass in tow, rattling along behind in a makeshift plastic sled . . .
(Late Sunday edit: The Wolverine Foundation website has reports, including photos, on the Wolverine study in Glacier National Park.)
(Tuesday edit: The Daily Inter Lake also posted coverage of the Wolverine study here and here.)
Posted by nfpa at January 29, 2006 11:02 AM