Sarah Rovang probably knew she’d be getting her hands dirty when she started work on her masters degree in conservation biology. But bear scat? Rancid beef blood?
Handling the stinky stuff was all part of the job for Rovang this summer as she conducted field research for her thesis on simpler and cheaper ways to keep track of our province’s grizzly bears.
“My research is the first step to identify what bears are out there,” said Rovang. “Then we can monitor whether the population is increasing or decreasing.”
Rather than the previously used and costly methods of drugging, capturing and collaring the bears, Rovang proposed a cost-effective and less-invasive method of tracking grizzly DNA. With three research assistants, Rovang spent May to August collecting tufts of bear hair primarily from hair snags.
A barbed wire corral, created around 4-6 trees, provided a smelly site that bears would approach either over or under the wire, leaving bits of hair behind.
“It was a bait of rancid cow blood mixed with canola oil, logs and moss. It definitely attracted all bears, black ones, too,” said Rovang.
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Evan Vandervalk
Tufts of grizzly hair can not only tell researchers the bear’s species and sex but also help them identify individual bears.
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