Activity patterns in the reintroduced Pyrenean brown bear population
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Activity patterns in the reintroduced Pyrenean brown bear population Aida Parres 1 & Santiago Palazón 2 & Ivan Afonso 3 & Pierre-Yves Quenette 4 & Antoni Batet 2 & Jean-Jacques Camarra 4 & Xavier Garreta 5 & Salvador Gonçalves 3 & Jordi Guillén 5 & Sergio Mir 3 & Ramón Jato 6 & Joan Rodríguez 3 & Jerome Sentilles 4 & Laura Xicola 7 & Yolanda Melero 8 Received: 2 September 2019 / Accepted: 13 May 2020 / Published online: 1 June 2020 # The Author(s) 2020
Abstract Mammals usually adjust behavioral patterns when exposed to disturbances. Elusiveness and low-risk time selection may reduce their stress in periods of highest risk. In Europe, brown bears (Ursus arctos) coexist with humans in densely populated and modified landscapes and, consequently, are exposed to human-caused disturbances during the daytime hours. Furthermore, intraspecific interactions might also influence their behavioral responses, especially during the mating season. Activity patterns of several large carnivores have been thoroughly studied; however, research is scarce for relocated populations. Here, we report the activity patterns in the reintroduced brown bear population in the Pyrenees. We expected the bears to reduce their activity depending on the type and level of disturbances. We analyzed individual behavior of both sexes (males, solitary females, and females with offspring) and age groups (adults and subadults) using camera-trap surveys under different types of intraspecific and anthropogenic disturbances. In general, bears were more active during the night (2200–0600 h) and avoided peaks of human activity (1000–1800 h). Furthermore, with the increasing nocturnal disturbance of adult males during the mating season, females with offspring and subadults were more active during daylight. This suggests that vulnerable individuals showed high tolerance for human presence. These results contribute to improve our knowledge of how a threatened and relocated bear population behaves in a human-modified landscape of southern Europe. Further research on this population will be crucial to establish optimal management interventions during translocations, and the prevention of human-bear encounters and conflicts. Keywords Ursus arctos . Behavior . Carnivores . Camera-trapping . Activity patterns . Intraspecific interaction Communicated by: Krzysztof Schmidt * Aida Parres [email protected] 1
Institute of Nature Conservation, Polish Academy of Sciences, Adama Mickiewicza 33, 31120 Cracow, Poland
2
Regional Government of Catalonia, 08017 Barcelona, Spain
3
General Council of Aran (Conselh Generau d’Aran), 25530 Vielha, Lleida, Spain
4
French Agency of Biodiversity, OFB (Office Français de la Biodiversité), 31800 Villeneuve de Rivière, France
5
Brown Bear Foundation, FOP (Fundación Oso Pardo), 39010 Santander, Spain
6
Aragonese Society for Agri-environmental Management (Sociedad Aragonesa de Gestión Agroambiental), 50018 Zaragoza, Spain
7
Autonomous University of Barcelona, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Spain
8
CREAF, 08193 Cerdan
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