» Bear baiting:

New research shows that baits, widely used for bear hunting, made up more than 40% of the diet of bears harvested in northern Wisconsin.

Baiting has long been the most widelyused bear hunting tactic in Wisconsin.

But new research shows the practice of placing donuts, candies and other human foods on the landscape does more than bring a black bear into shooting position.

It also forms a substantial portion of the animals’ diets.

Work published last week found baits comprised more than 40% of the diet of bears harvested in northern Wisconsin.

The paper, titled “Consumption of intentional food subsidies by a hunted carnivore,” was authored by: Rebecca Kirby of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Jonathan Pauli, assistant professor with the University of Wisconsin’s Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology; and David MacFarland, large carnivore specialist with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Kirby recently completed her doctorate at the University of Wisconsin.

The work was published July 8 in the online version of the Journal of Wildlife Management. It was funded by the American Society of Mammalogists, DNR and University of

Wisconsin.

“We knew baiting would play a role in the bears’ diets, but the high level surprised us a little bit,” said Pauli. “These are rich foods, many with high fructose corn syrup, that bears don’t find in the natural ecosystem and are substantially boosting their caloric intakes.”

To make their findings, the researchers performed isotope analysis on hair and tissue samples obtained from bears in northern Wisconsin. Food types have specific isotopic signatures which allowed the dietary assessments.

The results showed that harvested bears didn’t just feed on bait during the summer and fall, but that they were relying on subsidies throughout their lifetimes. Patterns of bait consumption were primarily influenced by age-sex class; adult male bears were most reliant on human foods, followed by adult females.

Wisconsin was the perfect spot to do a baiting study due to its high bear population and liberal hunting regulations.

The Wisconsin bear population is estimated at 20,400; it has grown on average 3.4% annually since 1988, although has slowed recently as the DNR works to stabilize the population.

Twelve states allow hunters to use bait to pursue bears. The regulations vary, but on average baits can be deployed 23 days prior to the bear hunting season.

Wisconsin allows 180 days of baiting beginning in mid-April through the end of the hunting season in October.

The DNR estimates more than 4 million gallons of bear bait are deployed annually in Wisconsin.

The researchers said the baiting period spans virtually the entire active period for bears.

Northern Wisconsin has an average density of 0.27 bears per square mile, more than twice that of similar habitat in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (0.13) and northeastern Minnesota (0.09), according to the researchers. Michigan and Minnesota also allow bear baiting.

Specific areas of Wisconsin have even more bears. Zone D, in the northwestern portion of the state, has about 1.7 bears per square mile, MacFarland said.

Although the work didn’t address the question directly, it’s logical to ask: Could Wisconsin’s liberal baiting regulations explain the differences in bear densities of the neighboring states?

“It’s something to consider, for sure,” Pauli said. “We know that bears are definitely subsidized by human beings in Wisconsin.”

Bears that live high on the hog can have better survivorship, Pauli said, as well as produce more cubs.

The Wisconsin bear hunting structure is tightly controlled, with relatively few kill permits issued each year but a high success rate. It can take 10 years to draw a permit in bear-rich zones in northern Wisconsin.

Pennsylvania, which has many similarities to Wisconsin in terms of hunting culture and species, does not allow bear baiting. It has a season that lasts less than a week, attracts a large number of hunters annually but has a low success rate.

While there have been tweaks to the Wisconsin bear hunting license structure, no consideration has been given to reducing or eliminating bear baiting in the state, said Mike Rogers, chairman of the Bear Committee of the Wisconsin Conservation Congress.

The researchers said their findings emphasize the need to understand “what effects conservation and management strategies that feature human subsidies can have on wildlife, particularly how they alter behavior, population sizes and demographic parameters.”

Future work could look at the impact of bear baiting on fecundity (number of cubs produced per sow) as well as its “spillover” to other species, too.

The DNR is in the process or rewriting its bear management plan.

MacFarland said Wisconsin wildlife managers are asking a range of questions, including: Is the bear population too large? Too small? Is it in the right places?

The DNR expects to have a draft of the plan available in spring 2018 and the final plan approved in fall 2018.

The agency is not likely to recommend changes to bear hunting tactics. It’s also not known at this point how much appetite the public has for change.

“But this type of work is helpful as we study the impact of our regulatory policies on wildlife,” MacFarland said. “We will continue to seek out the best information so we can make the most informed decisions moving forward.”