Predation on Moose Calves by European Brown Bears

Abstract: In North America, brown bears ( Ursus arctos ) can be a significant predator on moose ( Alces alces ) calves. Our study in Sweden is the first in which brown bears are the only predator on moose calves. Bears and moose occurred at densities of about 30/1,000 km 2 and 920/1,000 km 2 , respe...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of Wildlife Management
Main Authors: SWENSON, JON E., DAHLE, BJØRN, BUSK, HELENA, OPSETH, OLE, JOHANSEN, THOMAS, SÖDERBERG, ARNE, WALLIN, KJELL, CEDERLUND, GORAN
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2007
Subjects:
Alces alces
Ursus arctos
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.2193/2006-308
https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.2193%2F2006-308
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Summary:Abstract: In North America, brown bears ( Ursus arctos ) can be a significant predator on moose ( Alces alces ) calves. Our study in Sweden is the first in which brown bears are the only predator on moose calves. Bears and moose occurred at densities of about 30/1,000 km 2 and 920/1,000 km 2 , respectively, and bears killed about 26% of the calves. Ninety‐two percent of the predation took place when calves were <1 month old. Bear predation was probably additive to other natural mortality, which was about 10% in areas both with and without bears. Females that lost their calves in spring produced more calves the following year (1.54 calves/F) than females that kept their calves (1.11 calves/F), which reduced the net loss of calves due to predation to about 22%.

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