95
Methods for attempting to collect genetic samples (hair), if a putative grizzly bear is
detected via photograph, are covered as well to help confirm identification and
potentially shed more light on the genetic relatedness of grizzly bears in the NCE to
elsewhere in the Pacific Northwest.
Safety consideration
Travel in bear country requires attention to several safety considerations, especially
when hiking, and potentially camping with a powerful scent lure designed to attract
bears. Teams should carefully review how to distinguish between black bears and
grizzly bears and procedures for how to behave during a bear encounter. Western
Wildlife Outreach's website (http://westernwildlife.org) provides an excellent overview
of this topic, as well as links to more resources. Below are a few key expectations for
CWMP camera teams traveling in the backcountry in potential grizzly bear country.
Always carry bear spray. CWMP provides teams with at least one canister of commercial
pepper spray designed to deter bears. Teams should keep this out and accessible at all
times while in bear country and be familiar with how and when to employ it. The
chances of an aggressive encounter with a black or grizzly bear are relatively low but
often happen unexpectedly and teams need to be prepared for this eventuality.
Keep scent lure out of campsites. Carry scent lure in a sealed container inside of a dry bag
(provided by CWMP) clipped to the outside of a team members backpack. For overnight
trips never bring this bag into camp. Instead, before entering camp, hang the bag from a
tree using a rope to hoist it out of reach of a potentially curious bear. Lure should be left
at least 50 meters outside of your camp, similar to how food is handled for bear safe
backpacking.
Stick together. As part of scouting for a specific location to set a camera trap, teams will be
looking for the best habitat, food sources, and marking signs of bears. Doing so
inherently puts teams at a greater risk of having an actual encounter with a bear. Staying
together as a group while searching for and installing a camera trap can greatly increase
the chance of early detection of a bear and decrease the chances that the bear will act
aggressively towards the team.
