International Association for Bear Research and Management The International Association for Bear Research and Management (IBA) sponsors international conferences and workshops about bear biology, research and management. The International Conference on Bear Research and Management is the largest of these conferences and is focused on all eight bear species. The international conferences are rotated between the Americas and Eurasia on an 18-month rotation. Many of the conference papers are published as peer-reviewed papers in the journal Ursus. The IBA is a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization open to professional biologists, wildlife managers and others dedicated to the conservation of all bear species. The organization has over 550 members from over 50 countries. It supports the scientific management of bears through research and distribution of information. The goal of the association is to promote the conservation and restoration of the world’s bears through science-based research, management and education. The eight bear species of the world pose significant research and management problems to governments, local authorities, wildlife biologists, land managers, park personnel, tribal councils, and private landowners. The public endures hardships caused by bears; the public wants bears to survive. Management responsibility for the bears and their habitats rests with numerous national and local agencies and councils. Encroaching civilization, involving land-use conflicts and resource utilization by human beings, has resulted in the decline or disappearance of bear habitat and bear populations in portions of their ranges. Continued viability of populations and the possible restoration of bears in certain areas will be largely contingent upon a cooperative approach towards research, management, land use, and education, and will increase in cost as land values escalate. The IBA, an association primarily of professional biologists with an interest in bears, recognizes these dificult bear research and management problems faced by agencies and governments. 2016 IBA Conference, Anchorage, Alaska 2 Table of Contents Session 1 – Conservation and Ecology of Polar Bears ............................................................. 10 Polar Bear Conservation Status in Relation to Projected Sea-Ice Conditions .................................... 10 Resilience and Risk - A Demographic Model to Inform Conservation Planning for Polar Bears ........ 10 Polar Bear Attacks on Humans: Implications of a Changing Climate ................................................ 11 Using Synthetic Aperture Radar for Remote Detection of Polar Bear Dens ...................................... 12 Increased Arctic Sea Ice Drift Alters Polar Bear Movements and Energetics .................................... 13 The Behavioral Response of Polar Bears to Habitat Degradation in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas . 14 The Effects of Sea Ice Loss on Protein and Fat Stores of Food-Deprived Polar Bears ........................ 15 Consistency in Polar Bear Habitat Selection Patterns During a Period of Rapid Sea Ice Loss ............ 15 Continued Declines in Reproduction in Western Hudson Bay Polar Bears Despite Short-Term Stability in Sea Ice Conditions ......................................................................................................... 16 Shrinking Ice and Shrinking Bears: Long Term Trends in Sea Ice Extent and Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus) Body Size in Western Hudson Bay ................................................................................. 17 Towards a New Tool for Investigations into Bear and Ecosystem Health ......................................... 17 Animal Growth in a Changing Environment: Polar Bears of Southern Hudson Bay .......................... 18 Spring Field Metabolic Rates and Behaviors of Female Polar Bears on the Sea Ice of the Southern Beaufort Sea ................................................................................................................................... 19 Maternal Denning Phenology and Substrate Selection of Polar Bears in the Southern Beaufort and Chukchi Seas ................................................................................................................................... 19 Windscapes Shape Polar Bear Foraging and Travelling Behaviour ................................................... 20 Application of 2D and 3D Photographic Technology to Estimate Body Size and Condition of Polar Bears .............................................................................................................................................. 21 Human-Bear Interactions, Climate Change, and Emerging Patterns of Polar Bear Habitat Use in the Chukchi Sea Region of Alaska ......................................................................................................... 21 Temporal Trends in Foraging Patterns and Body Condition of Female Polar Bears in Western Hudson Bay ................................................................................................................................................. 22 The Potential Role of Spring Fasting Behavior in Contributing to Differences in Body Condition of Polar Bears in the Southern Beaufort and Chukchi Seas .................................................................. 23 Socially Learned On-shore Behavior for the Southern Beaufort Sea Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus) Subpopulation ................................................................................................................................ 23 Session 2 – Bear Viewing: Scientific, Management, and Recreational Perspectives ................ 25 Bear Viewing: Economic Benefits and Management Challenges ...................................................... 25 The Where, What and How of Bear Viewing: A Worldwide Overview ............................................. 25 Best Practices for Bear Viewing in the Tongass National Forest of Alaska ........................................ 26 Best Practices for Bear Viewing in Alaska’s National Parks .............................................................. 26 Challenges of Managing Bear Viewing in the Central U.S. Rocky Mountain Parks ............................ 27 Bear Viewing Management and Research in British Columbia ......................................................... 27 Bear Viewing: Are Spatial and Temporal Refugia Necessary? .......................................................... 28 International Bear Viewing: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly .......................................................... 29 2016 IBA Conference, Anchorage, Alaska 3 Enhancing Tolerance by Bears for Close Range Research Observation ............................................. 29 Habituation: Diverse Forms and Consequences .............................................................................. 30 Viewing Food-Conditioned Bears .................................................................................................... 31 Spying in the Den: The Hidden Play Life of Black Bears ................................................................... 32 Rivaling Apes: Cognitive Abilities of Bears ....................................................................................... 33 Understanding Black Bear Vocalizations and Body Language for Research ...................................... 33 The Language of Alaskan Brown Bears (Ursus arctos) ..................................................................... 34 Session 3 – Bear Predation and Harvest Management ........................................................... 35 Big Enough for Bears? American Black Bears (Ursus americanus) at Heightened Risk of Mortality during Seasonal Forays Outside Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario ................................................ 35 Towards Stable Caribou Populations: Considering Resource Selection by Grizzly Bears, Wolves, and Caribou to Prioritize Restoration of Legacy Seismic Lines in Alberta, Canada .................................. 36 Hunting Promotes Sexual Conflict in Brown Bears .......................................................................... 37 Temporal Effects of Hunting on Foraging Activity and Efficiency of Scandinavian Brown Bears ....... 38 Field ID Manual: A Systematic Approach in Field Investigation of Ungulate Predation and Assigning a Standardized Probability by Predator Species to a Predation Event .............................................. 39 Spatiotemporal Patterns of Bear and Reindeer Habitat Selection on the Reindeer Calving Range Cells ................................................................................................................................................ 40 Factors to Consider when Evaluating Harvest as a Grizzly Bear Recovery Implementation Tool ...... 40 Effects of Diversionary Feeding on Life History Traits of Brown Bears ............................................. 41 Home Range Change of a Large Carnivore in Response to Hunter Harvest ...................................... 42 Spatiotemporal Trends in Brown Bear (Ursus arctos) Management in Alaska, USA ......................... 42 Evaluation of Brown Bear Predation on Ungulate Calves in Southcentral Alaska Using Neck Mounted Cameras and GPS ............................................................................................................................ 43 Trends in Intensive Management of Alaska’s Grizzly Bears, 1980-2015 ........................................... 43 Patterns of Harvest and