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Bears get hungry too
I stand in front of a large stuffed brown bear at the Akan Visitor's Center. 99.10.02/ Temperature: 8C/ Weather: Rain/ Wind Direction: NW
Current Location: Lake Shikaribetsu/Latitude: 43 16 26 N /Longitude: 143 06 11 E
Distance Traveled: 0 km (Rest day)Yesterday after passing through Nukabira, I made my way up over the pass leading to Lake Shikaribetsu. The pass is the highest altitude I have climbed thus far. The natural forest of Daisetsuzan National Park surrounds the small road, which will be closed in less than a month for the winter. Though the needles of the pines and firs remain intact birch leaves are beginning to turn a light yellow. Several cameramen were out snapping shots of the momiji, which have turned a shade of red you may find in the coals of a campfire.
Kuma Sawa, or "bear stream," is where my walking came to an end yesterday. I looked deep into the forest to scanning the landscape for the large mammal creatures. No bears in sight. The distance I covered yesterday and will travel tomorrow is known to have a large bear population. Taking this into consideration, when I had the opportunity last night to speak with Mr. Kawabe, curator of the East Daisetsu Museum, I inquired about the bears of Hokkaido.
Students of WSN have asked about the relationship between bears and human trash. "If a bear comes across leftover trash from some campers and feeds on it, this is not abnormal behavior. However, the behavior of bears entering seasonal houses used by fishermen is abnormal," (for related report see Wisdom report#007) said Mr. Kawabe as he sat back relaxing in his chair. "No one is positive about the motivation behind this, but there is evidence that there was a shortage of food the year the bears raided the seasonal fishing houses." "Prior to hibernation, acorns are a very important source of food for bears. Some years acorns are plentiful, other years they are not. A lack of food is the most likely motivation for bears to raid these seasonal houses." "It is even more mysterious if you think about how the bears knew that they would find food inside the houses. Did they smell their way into the houses or is there some other way they might have known about what they would find inside?"
Mr. Kawabe then explained the uniqueness of bear problems in southern Hokkaido. "The southern part of Hokkaido has quite a large bear population. This is due to plentiful amounts of food. The geography of the southern peninsula of Hokkaido is very mountainous and complicated. This creates unique circumstances for the bears and humans living in the area as well. In other words, people live up in the mountains. The habitats of both humans and bears end up overlapping. Living closer to one another, the bears are more likely to make connections between trash, food, and the presence of humans. Most of the bear attacks in Hokkaido take place in the south. And, most bear incidents happen when there is a shortage of food." Where habitats overlap, there tend to be more problems for humans coexisting with other species.
Mr. Kawabe also told me of some studies that are being carried out in Southern Hokkaido. The Hokkaido Environmental Science Research Center has been conducting studies on the relationship of bears with humans by tracking the movement of bears by radar. Results have shown that bears do travel to and from areas with trash. "Some bears that recognize the relationship between trash and food, end up seeking it out."
Greg
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