Posted on 04/13/2021 8:37:26 AM PDT by SJackson
If you’ve ever worried a bear might be after your picnic basket, you may want to take the hardest, hilliest trail to your destination. That’s the take-home message of a new study, in which researchers got nine bears to run on treadmills—a first for science—and found that they, like their laziest human counterparts, prefer flat paths to save energy. The study, scientists say, may help explain why bears are often found around popular hiking trails.
Grizzly bears (Ursus arctos horribilis) need to stock up on energy before they slip into winter hibernation. As opportunistic omnivores, they eat just about anything—berries, roots, grass, insects, and meat—to put on weight. That requires a lot of foraging, but what paths they pick while looking for food was a mystery. “This study does for bears what Fitbit and other fitness trackers have done for people,” says Scott Nielsen, a conservation biologist at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, who was not involved in the study.
To find out how grizzly bears spend their energy while searching for food, researchers at Washington State University’s Bear Research, Education, and Conservation Center placed a treadmill in a custommade, sealed enclosure, built with steel frames and polycarbonate sheets to make them air-tight. Then, they trained nine captive bears to walk and run on the treadmill at various slopes, both uphill and downhill.
Training the bears was no easy task. Before beginning their experiments, the researchers acclimatized the bears to the treadmill enclosure over 2 months, using generous handouts of apple slices and pieces of hot dog as rewards. “First they were sitting around and relaxing on the treadmill. When [the machine] started, they were puzzled and could not understand why they were moving away from their food,” says co-author Charles Robbins, a biologist at the center. Instead of walking, the bears tried crawling to reach the food. Eventually, the researchers increased the treadmill speed so the bears had to walk.
“The bears did an excellent job,” says Anthony Carnahan, lead author of the study. “Some of them learned a lot quicker than others.”
Each bear walked about 6 minutes on the treadmill at varying slopes (see video, above). The researchers measured the amount of oxygen the bears used while walking and could estimate the calories they consumed. The most energy-efficient walking speed across all slopes for the bears was about 4.2 kilometers per hour, they report today in the Journal of Experimental Biology.
Next, the researchers compared that pace with tracking data from 30 grizzly bears wearing GPS collars near Yellowstone National Park. The GPS data revealed the bears usually walk at only 2 kilometers per hour, comparable to a slowly hiking human. “It turns out that they don’t move as efficiently as they could,” Carnahan says. Although their speed isn’t the most energy efficient, it gives them time to look for food while they wander. The wild bears also preferred paths that were either flat or had shallow slopes—no more than a 10% grade uphill or downhill.
Unfortunately, that means many hikers will continue to encounter grizzlies—an experience that can invoke awe, fright, and curiosity for both bears and humans, Robbins says. He hopes the findings can help people understand why they might encounter bears and do what it takes to stay safe.
The research also adds a vital piece to the puzzle of energy dynamics in the bear world, Nielsen says. He’s putting together an “energy map” for grizzly bears based on food availability in various habitats and is excited about integrating the findings into his work. Biologists might be able to better understand how much and how fast bear populations can recover from recent drops in population if they know their energy needs and how many calories are available in the wild, he says. After all, life as a grizzly bear is no picnic.
Video at link. They like treadmills because their human gives them food at the end of the treadmill. They like some hiking trails because before they were hiking trails they were game trails. Arrogant of us humans to call them hiking rather than game trails.
The really amazing part of this is that he found someone stupid enough to pay for his research.
The university system proliferates grifters.
They like hiking trails because that’s where the food is.
Yes, they like the trail mix.
Trail Mix is the appetizer, the hiker is the main course...
Even snakes know that. When you hike, always stay to the center of the trail...because the edges very often shelter snakes that are hiding out there to catch smaller critters (mice, etc) that are zipping across the trail or nibbling along the edges. It’s one long dirt buffet!
The conclusions of this study are as startling as finding out that deer tend to run downhill when they are startled. Jeeze don’t these egg-heads ever talk with hunters?
“The really amazing part of this is that he found someone stupid enough to pay for his research.”
Maybe it was a government grant, if so I guess the taxpayers were stupid enough to pay for it.
bears love hiking trails because they are flat and because they provide the occasional snack ...
In light of the rising frequency of human/grizzly bear conflicts, the Department of Fish & Game is advising Scouts, hikers, hunters, and fishermen to wear little bells tied to their clothing while in the field.
It has been strongly advised that Scouts and outdoorsmen wear noisy little bells on their clothing so as not to startle bears that aren’t expecting outdoorsman to be walking in their habitat.
It has also been strongly advised for Scouts and outdoorsmen to carry non-lethal pepper spray with them in case of an encounter with a bear.
The Department states it is a good idea to watch out for fresh signs of bear activity. Scouts and outdoorsmen should be able to recognize the difference between black bear and grizzly bear scat.
Black bear scat is smaller and contains lots of berries and many times squirrel fur.
Grizzly bear scat has little bells in it, smells like pepper and many times pieces of red, tan and green fabric.
[[ Arrogant of us humans to call them hiking rather than game trails. ]]
Arrogant of us to assume that animals don’t like to hike on their own hiking trails.
Not too surprising. People tend to think of grizzlies as mountain animals, but in settlement times they were plains/ prairie dwellers, as were elk, and of course, bison.
““Some of them learned a lot quicker than others.” “
That nasty ole Bell Curve again.
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