Modeling the effects of human activity on Katmai brown bears (Ursus arctos) through the use of survival analysis

Arctic
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Abstract

Brown bear-human interactions were observed in 1993, 1995, and 1997 at Kulik River in Katmai National Park and Preserve, Alaska. We analyzed these interactions using survival analysis, creating survival curves for the time that bears remained on the river in the presence, and absence, of human activity. Bear-only survival curves did not vary significantly between years (p = 0.067). Ninety-seven percent of bears left the river within 70 minutes of arrival in all years. Temporal patterns of bear activity were unaffected by the presence of humans as long as the bears did not share river zones with humans (p = 0.062 to p = 0.360). When people and bears did not share river zones, 38.6% (1993), 36.0% (1995), and 37.0% (1997) of bears remained on the river for at least 10 minutes after arrival. In contrast, when people and bears shared river zones, fewer bears remained on the river after the first 10 minutes, with 28.6% (1993), 25.0% (1995), and 32.6% (1997) observed in each year. We conclude that human activity displaced 26.0% (1993), 30.5% (1995), and 12.0% (1997) of the bears using the river, which otherwise would likely have remained longer. Over the three years of study, habituation to human activity may account for observed changes in bears' use of the river.

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Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Modeling the effects of human activity on Katmai brown bears (Ursus arctos) through the use of survival analysis
Series title Arctic
DOI 10.14430/arctic492
Volume 57
Issue 2
Year Published 2004
Language English
Publisher The Arctic Institute of North America
Contributing office(s) Alaska Science Center
Description 6 p.
First page 160
Last page 165
Country United States
State Alaska
Other Geospatial Katmai National Park and Preserve
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