Factors influencing lifespan dependency on agricultural crops by brown bears

Abstract

Investigating factors underlying human-wildlife conflicts in agricultural landscapes is important for both preventing crop damage and wildlife conservation. Although environments surrounding crop fields are considered causal factors, incorporating individual aspects of animals, such as demographic and physical characteristics, into the investigation may aid the prediction of how nuisance control affects wildlife population structures. Here, we assessed the relationship of corn consumption by Hokkaido brown bears (Ursus arctos) with both demographic (sex and age) and physical (body size) characteristics and environmental factors (human presence and crop accessibility). We estimated the proportion of corn in the lifespan diet for both female (n = 61) and male (n = 62) bears using carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analyses. Then, we analyzed the factors correlated with corn consumption using a generalized linear model. Female and male bears consumed corn from 1.3 to 30.9% and 1.3 to 42.0% of their lifespan diet, respectively. Corn consumption by female bears was not correlated with any explanatory variables, whereas that of male bears was positively correlated with their body size and crop accessibility but negatively correlated with human presence. Large male bears were more likely to have consumed more corn than small male bears, but the selective harvest of large bears may cause dwarfism of their overall population, impacting the local population dynamics. To reduce agricultural damage and population structure alteration of brown bears, the opportunity for them to learn to eat crops must be eliminated through border management between forests and agricultural fields and the relocation of agricultural fields when possible.