Innovation Anthology #81: Associate Profess, Biochemistry
Grizzly bears are attracted to roads, making them easy targets for hunters and poachers.
For her Masters thecis at the University of Alberta. biologist Carrie Roever looked at what might attract grizzlies to roads in the first place.
She found that in the spring, ditches along roads green up earlier. So the bears like to chow down on some tender roadside clover and dandelions after a long winter’s nap.
Carrie Roever also found many forest roads lead to cut blocks and the cut blocks provide yet another vegetation bonanza for grizzlies.
CARRIE ROEVER: So to reduce that attractants, first we need to stop planting clover in ditches. Clover is a really high quality food source for bears. And so by having this clover in the ditch, bears are often attracted to the roads. The second set of options is to reduce the mortality risk around roads. And to do that first, because grizzly bears might be attracted to the cut block and not the road, we should probably put up beauty strips, so put forests in between the roads and cut block so that people driving along the road can’t see into the cut block and grizzly bears are more secure in these areas when they are using them.
Carrie Roever says gating roads in spring could also help prevent the needless death of Alberta’s grizzlies.
Thanks today to The Alberta Conservation Association.
FOR INNOVATION ANTHOLOGY, I’M CHERYL CROUCHER
Guest
Ing Swie Goping, PhD,
University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada,
Sponsor
Program Date: 2007-11-06