Lily - July 29, 2013 Today was an indoor day. After the NABC Board Meeting in Ely, we headed back to work on a paper that had been set aside during the legal preparations.
We also watched a news video of a DNR spokesman saying the DNR didn’t see any research value to broadcasting Den Cams live to the world and to classrooms. It showed how little they know about what we do. Of course, Lily Fans know that broadcasting Den Cams live enabled over a hundred official Den-Watchers to record standardized data on den activities 24/7, which is what makes publications from the Den Cams possible. We ourselves would never be able to review archives of an entire winter’s activities to make such fine-grained data records.
Is there scientific value to the Den Cam data? The six months black bears spend in dens is the least observed half of black bear life. Our Den Cams are revealing this half of bear lives—something never before possible. “Bears in Winter” is the focus of International Bear Association’s upcoming International Conference on Bear Research and Management. The abstract of our presentation there is:
Black bear behavior in 7 dens in northeastern Minnesota, 2010-2013
Abstract: The 5-7 months black bears (Ursus americanus) spend in dens in northern regions represent the least observed half of their lives. Video web cams now enable researchers to remotely observe undisturbed real-time behavior 24/7. During 2010-2013, we transmitted live video and sound from 6 dens in northeastern Minnesota. Occupants included 2 mothers and their 7 offspring (4 litters). To determine daily time budgets, >100 collaborators recorded standardized data, minute-by-minute, during the 4 winters using live or archived footage. Sound recorded in a 7th den containing a third mother and her yearling female provided additional data on frequency of nursing by yearlings. The remote recordings revealed activities not reported from direct observations. In this presentation, remote videos document the bears eating snow, icicles, foot pads, and a fecal plug; urinating; defecating; nursing; playing; rearranging bedding; and sleeping. Video recordings before and during the 7 births include den preparations, physical changes in mothers’ bodies, labor (up to 22 hours), parturition, and reactions to cubs’ first cries. Cub development and eye-opening are shown. All 5 yearlings nursed frequently. Play frequency differed among litters and individuals.
Bear feet - July 29, 2013The DNR refusal to allow the live broadcast of Den Cam information is baffling and begs the question “Why?” If publications are an issue, why disrupt our ‘life in the den’ study. If getting kids interested in science is important, why eliminate an important tool many teachers use to awaken that interest? The DNR is concerned about public safety, but how does that relate to live broadcast of the Den Cams? There must be more.
We see your donations to the legal fund and thank you for helping us fight this injustice.
Thank you for all you do.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center