Collected hair from bears shows that the bear tribe in the far north is larger than previously thought.
– We found more bears in the area, says Rebecca Forsberg, wildlife officer at the County Administrative Board in Norrbotten about the pilot project with bear hair traps.
Why the bears scratch is unclear, but they do so frequently and are attracted to trees smeared with tar. A game camera sends a message to the county board when the bear has visited a tree. The hairs are then collected and DNA analyzed to see which individual it is. This is a new way to track which bear it is. A complement to simply collecting bear poo in the forest.
– Instead of actively going and looking for droppings, we set up a tree where the bear is attracted to come and rub itself and leave a DNA sample, says Rebecca Forsberg, wildlife officer in Norrbotten.
14 new bears found
15 trees have functioned as bear hair traps on a test area in Jokkmokk’s forests. There were 14 bears that had not been discovered before. Something that turns out to be important in being able to map how big the bear tribe is.
– We had a better hit ratio, we found more bears in the area, says Rebecca Forsberg.
Good where it is difficult to access
There are approximately 2,400 bears in Sweden. The bear is a predator that is regulated by special hunting to avoid damage to domestic animals and reindeer. Every five years, inventories are made in the areas where bears are found to see how big the population is. The bear hair traps prove to be good in areas that are difficult to access in roadless country.
– Above the cultivation limit, for example where we have a limited road network, it can be a supplementary method. And that is precisely what is so good that we find both bears on droppings and on hair, concludes Rebecca Forsberg.