Naslov
Wintering of Brown Bears in Croatia

Autori
Huber, Djuro ; Kusak, Josip ; Reljic, Slaven

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Sažeci sa skupova, sažetak, ostalo

Izvornik
Book of Abstracts of the 23rd International Conference on Bear Research & Management (IBA). / - Solun, 2014, 176-176

Skup
23rd International Conference on Bear Research & Management.

Mjesto i datum
Solun, Grčka, 05.10.2014. - 11.10.2014

Vrsta sudjelovanja
Predavanje

Vrsta recenzije
Međunarodna recenzija

Ključne riječi
Brown bears, hibernation.

Sažetak
Here we illustrate the variability and complexity of winter bear behavior in Croatia. Out of 41 radio-collared bears since 1981 we tracked 17 ones (9 males, 8 females) during 24 bear winters. Three female dens were maternal. Some bears (at least 5) used more than one den in the same winter and some (at least 4) left the den and returned to the same one in the same winter. Adjacent to 10 dens (mean 16 m, range 2 to 30 m) we found open nesting sites (“sun bed”) which those bears used during daytime in some winter days. Three bears (all males) spent winter in an open nest, while all other were in the rock cavities (19) or under the tree roots (2). None of the bears used the same den site twice during our study. For 18 bears radio monitored over whole winter (1314 den days) the mean denning time was 73 days (range 28 to 184 days). The total number of documented bear den-days for all 24 bear-winters was 1, 389. Over the months it was distributed as follows: November 17, December 285, January 440, February 325, March 206, April 98, May 39, and June 4 den-days. The overall activity (active vs. passive in %) was clearly lower in the winter months: Jan 10, Feb 4, Mar 15, Apr 39, May 64, Jun 55, Jul 49, Aug 54, Sep 58, Oct 50, Nov 51 and Dec 20%. Although we do notice the decrease of the average number of days with snow cover over the past 3 decades, as well as higher average winter temperatures, the change in bear winter behavior could not be noticed on our sample. However, the elements of bear hibernation are present while bears exhibit the remarkable adaptability to any given environmental conditions.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Biologija, Veterinarska medicina

POVEZANOST RADA