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Chapter 18 - Effects of Human Disturbance on Brown Bear Behavior

from Part III - Human–Bear Coexistence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 November 2020

By
Ole-Gunnar Støen ,
Andrés Ordiz ,
Marcus Elfström ,
Anne G. Hertel ,
Veronica Sahlén ,
Jonas Kindberg  and
Jon E. Swenson
Edited by
Vincenzo Penteriani  and
Mario Melletti
Vincenzo Penteriani
Affiliation:
Spanish Council of Scientific Research (CSIC)
Mario Melletti
Affiliation:
WPSG (Wild Pig Specialist Group) IUCN SSC
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Summary

Humans disturb bears in many ways, either directly when they encounter humans or indirectly by changing their behavior and way of life to avoid humans, human activity, and infrastructure. Here we summarize research on how brown bears normally react when encountering humans, what a human encounter may entail for a bear, and whether bears habituate or change their behavior toward humans with increased exposure. Based on this, we also discuss: (a) how our knowledge of brown bear behavior may help people to deal with their fear of bears, and not limit their use of outdoor areas with bears; (b) how human presence, activity, and infrastructure have an indirect effect on bears, that is, how bears change their movement pattern, use of terrain and vegetation, and daily activity pattern to avoid humans; (c) how human disturbance influence foraging and denning, which is crucial for brown bear growth and reproduction; and (d) apparent differences among continents in brown bear behavior toward humans and whether this may have an evolutionary cause.

Keywords

bear behaviorhuman disturbancehuman persecutionbrown bearUrsus arctos
Type
Chapter
Information
Bears of the World
Ecology, Conservation and Management
 , pp. 250 - 259
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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