11-130 Rogers Response.Indd

Human–Wildlife Interactions 5(2):173–176, Fall 2011 Commentary [Editor’s note: the following articles are responses to Valerius Geist’s article “Wildlife habituation: advances in understanding and management application”, appearing in Human–Wildlife Interactions 5:9–12. Geist's rebutt al follows.] Misconceptions about black bears: a response to Geist (2011) LYNN L. ROGERS, Wildlife Research Institute, 1482 Trygg Road, Ely, MN 55731, USA [email protected] SUSAN A. MANSFIELD, Wildlife Research Institute, 1482 Trygg Road, Ely, MN 55731, USA We read with interest the commentary Dian Fossey did the same with great apes by Valerius Geist on habituation (Geist (Hominidae) years before. 2011). Dr. Geist is a world authority on To support his contention that habituation ungulate behavior, but his statements about leads to att acks, Geist erroneously used the bears refl ect misconceptions that he supported case of Timothy Treadwell who was killed by with anecdotes rather than with systematic a brown bear (Ursus arctos) in Katmai National observations that characterized his ungulate Park, Alaska, during 2002. In reality, Treadwell research. When someone of his stature att acked the bear as much as the bear att acked uncritically extrapolates from ungulates to him, and he did it fi rst (more below). I [Rogers] bears in this way, he sets back bear management, have watched Treadwell with bears many times promotes the sensationalized image of bears, as I led groups of bear-viewers. As long as and makes people unwilling to coexist with Treadwell behaved as usual, the bears tended to animals that they fear. ignore him. For 13 summers, Treadwell waded Habituation is a waning of response to next to the bears as they fi shed, approached a repeated, neutral stimulus (Thorpe 1956, them as they mated, and sat with them as they Whitaker and Knight 1998, Gilbert 1989, Smith grazed or as mothers 3 m away played with their et al. 2005, Herrero et al. 2005, Stringham 2009). cubs. The occasional young bear approached Bears that are fully habituated to humans ignore him. Sometimes they touched, but it was not the them (Whitaker and Knight 1998). Geist’s use of beginning of an att ack, as Geist implied. Guides the word habituation was confusing because he and tourists had similar experiences. Guides oft en used it to mean bears that are conditioned recognized the situations for what they were— or att racted to humans, which is the opposite of true habituation—and correctly judged the its true meaning. safety of it. They were not att acked, even when Geist’s main point was that “habituation” can I watched as 2 tourists approached within 2 m lead to bear att acks. There is danger in anything, of a large, sleeping bear that opened an eye and of course, but if habituated bears were as Geist went back to sleep. says, we and our co-workers could not do the Why did Treadwell get killed? It had nothing close-up black bear (Ursus americanus) studies to do with habituation. A bear investigated his that we have been doing for decades. Habituated camp when Treadwell had his gear and food individuals do not view us humans with packed up ready to be fl own out. Treadwell “unconsummated interest” and att ack. They probably burst out of his tent and went aft er the behave as if we are of litt le consequence. We bear in his “samurai” mode, as he mentioned are neither friends nor enemies. We are neither in the movie “Grizzly Man” (Herzog 2005). Did signifi cant food-givers nor competitors. Bears Treadwell know the bear? Was it habituated? No forage, nurse, and sleep with hardly a look in one knows. A sparse salmon run had brought our direction, thus, providing insights into bear new bears out of the interior, according to Clint life that we would not have thought possible. Hlebechuk (personal communication), who This is not new, of course. Jane Goodall and owned Hallo Bay Bear Camp. Offi cials killed a 174 Human–Wildlife Interactions 5(2) big bear that had fed on Treadwell’s body, but big use trust rather than tranquilizers to radio- bears take over kills from smaller bears. Geist collar black bears, including mothers with cubs mentioned none of the above. His only citation and males up to 578 pounds. These kinder and was an Anchorage Daily News article by Craig gentler research methods eliminate injury and Medred (2003), titled “Wildlife author killed, cause far less stress than traps and tranquilizers eaten by bears he loved.” The article fi t Geist’s (Catt et et al. 2003, 2008). point, and he cited it. Geist stated, “When large mammals show In his section on the theoretical basis for an interest in the observer, or perform the fi rst, habituation, Geist used the word habituation faint dominance displays, it is high time for the correctly and gave an excellent overview of how observer to leave.” In truth, if I had taken that animals function, citing his good work from the advice a quarter century ago, I never would 1970s. But, in the section on danger signals, have remained with bears long enough to discussing signals that show anxiety (Herrero et learn much. The same black bear displays that al. 2005), Geist followed the common practice of Geist and others call threats, warnings, and calling them threats. While it looks threatening dominance displays, I call harmless bluster. when a nervous black bear lunges, slams its feet Instead of leaving when I see bluster, I feel down, blows explosively, and clacks its teeth, it safe. Bluster means a black bear is apprehensive is a stretch to label these behaviors as signs of and wants to talk about it. Communication is a danger. In my 44 years of working with wild step toward trust. black bears, I have seen these ritualized displays Geist included the common advice that retreat hundreds of times and have never had one turn should not be at a run because “fearfulness and into an att ack. These displays are not predictors timidity can trigger att acks!” This may be true of black bear att acks. They merely express with some dogs and big cats, but I know of no nervous apprehension, as is shown in the bear support for that statement with black bears. The language videos on the North American Bear warning not to run is perhaps the most common Center’s website (<htt p://www.bear.org>). As advice given for black bear encounters. But, I bears became habituated, they made fewer of have yet to fi nd 1 person who has given that these expressions of anxiety, not more. advice who has an example. In reality, many If Geist were right about the danger of people who see black bears tell me, “I ran 1 way habituated bears, I would have been att acked and the bear ran the other.” If a person is under decades ago, Treadwell could not have lasted att ack, running can shift the att ack to a new 13 years among habituated brown bears, location, but I am still looking for an example of and bear viewers could not have sat next to running clearly triggering a black bear att ack. A habituated brown bears at McNeil River Falls 7-year-old female black bear in Minnesota for >3 decades without injury. There is a need to provided the example closest to showing that. quantify or qualify statements of danger. In my She att acked a man who stood his ground 1 day, decades of experience, habituated bears have att acked a man who ran the next, and became proven to be less of a danger than taking a walk distracted by food when campers ran the day through the woods or doing home repairs. aft er that (Rogers and Garshelis 1988). Did the In discussing dominance displays, Geist second man trigger an att ack by running? Or stated, “Most humans have a very diffi cult time did he simply shift the att ack to a new location? recognizing this signal at all, let alone recogniz- Would 1 example truly show cause and eff ect ing it as a signal of high danger.” Count me as one rather than coincidence? of those humans. I interpret black bear behavior To test a bear’s response to running, a co- in terms of their fear, not human fear. Instead of worker ran from a nervous mother black bear seeing dominance displays, threats, and danger that had an unusual tendency to charge right from bears, we see defensive displays that show up to a person rather than performing a simple anxiety and that are not coupled with att ack. lunge or blustery hop-charge. We video-taped We use nonthreatening techniques. Over time, several of her charges, which can be seen on the bears become habituated to us within the <www.bear.org>. When the mother charged limits of their individual personalities, enabling again, my co-worker ran, glanced back at us to accompany them for research. We now the bear on his heels, and fell fl at. The bear Commentary 175 performed fancy athletics to avoid touching him and T. S. Smith. 2011. Fatal attacks by Ameri- while braking and turning back to her cubs. can black bear on people: 1900–2009. Journal Working as closely as we do with black bears, of Wildlife Management 75:596–603. we have a more than passing interest in the Herrero, S., T. Smith, T. D. DeBruyn, K. Gunther, role of habituation in att acks. Herrero et al.

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