06-17-2008, 10:55 PM
[quote line dangler] No official record of dead bear that has died of completely natural causes in a wilderness area has ever been found.[/quote]Line Dangler where are you getting your info?
Bears have been one of the most studied animals in the Rockies in the last 30 years. Grizzly bears especially have undergone extensive radio collaring especially in Montana and Wyoming due to being listed on the ESA.
Last year in Yellowstone alone there were two deaths of Grizzly Bears that were determined to have died of natural causes.
[url "http://www.jacksonholenews.com/article.php?art_id=2343"]http://www.jacksonholenews.com/article.php?art_id=2343[/url]
There are also numerous links I can provide you from studies completed by both the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the Wyoming Game and Fish concerning both Grizzly and Black bears that have died of natural causes.
[quote line dangler] Nature has a way of getting rid of a body very fast. And after all the meat is gone, rodents will carry the bones away and eat them.[/quote]This is not exactly true. Although some bones from a carcass will disapear due to scavengers many will stay within a close proximity to the scene of death for many years. Look at the many studies done on elk that have died due to wolves. Biologists are able to find elk carcasses and determing cause of death, sex, and year of death to help them determine managament philosophies.
Here is the 2007 USFWS Wolf Study regarding this.
[url "http://www.fws.gov/mountain-prairie/species/mammals/wolf/annualrpt07/WY%20and%20YNP%202007%20Annual%20Final%20Report%20received%203-8-08.pdf"]http://www.fws.gov/mountain-prairie/species/mammals/wolf/annualrpt07/WY%20and%20YNP%202007%20Annual%20Final%20Report%20received%203-8-08.pdf[/url]
[quote line dangler]Ask any hunter how many times he has stumbled upon a dead deer or elk or anything for that matter that died of completely natural causes?[/quote]Since you asked, I have lost count on how many carcasses I have encountered while out on our public lands. This year alone I have found 12 deer, 4 elk and 1 moose carcass that died of natural causes while I was shed hunting, and two of those deer were more than a year old. I also have helped the Wyoming Game and Fish complete winter kill surveys for the last 10 years and and have seen numerous carcasses that are never touched by any type of scavenger. I have seen carcasses that are many years old but they look like mummys because of the hide was shrink wrapped around a meatless skeleton.
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Bears have been one of the most studied animals in the Rockies in the last 30 years. Grizzly bears especially have undergone extensive radio collaring especially in Montana and Wyoming due to being listed on the ESA.
Last year in Yellowstone alone there were two deaths of Grizzly Bears that were determined to have died of natural causes.
[url "http://www.jacksonholenews.com/article.php?art_id=2343"]http://www.jacksonholenews.com/article.php?art_id=2343[/url]
There are also numerous links I can provide you from studies completed by both the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the Wyoming Game and Fish concerning both Grizzly and Black bears that have died of natural causes.
[quote line dangler] Nature has a way of getting rid of a body very fast. And after all the meat is gone, rodents will carry the bones away and eat them.[/quote]This is not exactly true. Although some bones from a carcass will disapear due to scavengers many will stay within a close proximity to the scene of death for many years. Look at the many studies done on elk that have died due to wolves. Biologists are able to find elk carcasses and determing cause of death, sex, and year of death to help them determine managament philosophies.
Here is the 2007 USFWS Wolf Study regarding this.
[url "http://www.fws.gov/mountain-prairie/species/mammals/wolf/annualrpt07/WY%20and%20YNP%202007%20Annual%20Final%20Report%20received%203-8-08.pdf"]http://www.fws.gov/mountain-prairie/species/mammals/wolf/annualrpt07/WY%20and%20YNP%202007%20Annual%20Final%20Report%20received%203-8-08.pdf[/url]
[quote line dangler]Ask any hunter how many times he has stumbled upon a dead deer or elk or anything for that matter that died of completely natural causes?[/quote]Since you asked, I have lost count on how many carcasses I have encountered while out on our public lands. This year alone I have found 12 deer, 4 elk and 1 moose carcass that died of natural causes while I was shed hunting, and two of those deer were more than a year old. I also have helped the Wyoming Game and Fish complete winter kill surveys for the last 10 years and and have seen numerous carcasses that are never touched by any type of scavenger. I have seen carcasses that are many years old but they look like mummys because of the hide was shrink wrapped around a meatless skeleton.
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