BROWN BEAR HUNTING FOR MOOSE IN THE SOUTHERN TAIGA: RESULTS OF LONG-TERM CAMERA TRAP MONITORING

Abstract

Background. The paper presents data on the brown bear hunting for moose in the Central Forest Nature Reserve and adjacent areas. As part of a long-term camera trap monitoring, rare cases were obtained demonstrating the hunting behavior of bears in relation to moose. Material and methods. The work was performed on the basis of a big amount of data from camera traps for the period from 2010 to 2022. The main data analysis methods include circular statistics and analysis of daily activity patterns. Results. A total of 12 cases of hunting were recorded. In 11 of them, bears chased moose cows. In 7 cases, there were 1 or 2 yearling calves along with cows. In two cases the bears were large in size, in one case the bear was small, and in the rest they were medium. Two hunts were successful, 5 were not successful, and in the other cases the result is not known. Most hunts took place in the morning (n = 4) or evening (n = 5) hours. Eight hunts were recorded in spring, 3 in summer, and 1 in autumn. The average time between bear and moose, excluding hiding, was 16,55 ± 4,68 s. The daily activity patterns of bear and moose were strongly overlapped ( 4 ˆΔ = 0,76), especially in the case of moose cows with calves ( 4 ˆΔ = 0,81) and solitary moose cows ( 4 ˆΔ = 0,79). No significant differences were found between bear and moose activity levels. Conclusions. In general, according to the data of camera traps, the brown bear demonstrated a high degree of specialization in relation to the prey of solitary cows and yearling calves in the spring.

Keywords

• brown bear
• camera traps
• daily activity
• hunting behavior
• moose
• predation
• alces alces
• ursus arctos