collared grizz in Reg 3 pics

[twoSevenO]

Saw this guy in south west region 3, thought i'd share some pics. Never seen a collared bear before.

Curious if anyone knows why he'd be wearing a collar and who would have put it on him?
Also, how old do you figure this bear is? He had a big head on him.

3rd pic is the exact moment he winded me. He stared in my direction for a bit, but didn't seem to care. Watched him for a good hour moving across the hill side flipping 50-80lb stones like they were corn flakes and looking for a snack. At one point he dug for about 15-20 mins ... i think he might have been trying to get at a marmot or something. He gave up after a while.


http://imgur.com/W6o1OP2.jpg

http://imgur.com/fua6Saq.jpg

http://imgur.com/9G6brl9.jpg

[Whonnock Boy]

Very cool. I can only assume he's/she's been collared by the regional biologists for study purposes.

[Weatherby Fan]

Yeh very cool, great pictures, thanks for sharing

[srupp]

Hmm first photo..look at front elbow..follow it down...tapers dramatically.
Look at the nose..long..tapered..it's not short and massive..
Look at the rear end is much bigger than front end..

Ears are held erect in 3rd photo..but no where near the side of the head..the head really is not that big
It " might" be a young male but I'm thinking female for reasons given

Nice photos always good to see these magnification animals....
Cheers
Steven

[twoSevenO]

Hmm first photo..look at front elbow..follow it down...tapers dramatically.
Look at the nose..long..tapered..it's not short and massive..
Look at the rear end is much bigger than front end..

Ears are held erect in 3rd photo..but no where near the side of the head..the head really is not that big
It " might" be a young male but I'm thinking female for reasons given

Nice photos always good to see these magnification animals....
Cheers
Steven

I don't hunt bears, so to me it was HUGE compared to the standard black bears i see.
Thanks for the tips. I did not know that's how you ID a male vs female

[srupp]

Lol ya average black bear harvested is 200 pounds or less..that's still a second year cub for grizzly..
The collar makes sense on a young female breeding age? I'm looking at how many of the bears heads would fit along the bears body..I'm thinking around 7 footer max.lol they ALL look big.on a big boar the elbows would come straight down to the outside of the paws..no tapering.nose would be short and huge..think folders coffee can..on a boar the front end would be much much bigger.ears would hang off the sides of the head..and their would be a muscle crease between the eyes..and the forehead would resemble a dinner plate..noticeably much bigger..the head looks round not wide...
Cheers
Steven

[Red_Mist]

Nice tip for sizing a grizz.... Counting it's head along its body.

[180grainer]

And the ears look huge. That can't be a big bear. Hard to tell with pictures.

[srupp]

And the ears look huge. That can't be a big bear. Hard to tell with pictures.

Ya for sure mic key mouse ears..lol..
Also the 3rd photo look how close together the eyes are noticeably. ..about same distance to nose..on a big bear the eyes would be much wider..that triangle would be wider..
But 180 gainer hit it..the ears give it away...but if time is available..there are many clues to size, sex, age..
Definitely not a shooter..and except for the large rear end..associated with female bears..the rest is sometimes found on both males and females at a very young age.
Cheers
Steven

[twoSevenO]

And the ears look huge. That can't be a big bear. Hard to tell with pictures.

no one said it was big, and no one asked how big it was lol

[RackStar]

Cool grizz!! Must have been cool. Who cares about size? Ur not hunting it. Cheers

[srupp]

Absolutely. ..wonderful photos...thank you for taking the time to share and ask..it's how we all learn...
Cheers
Srupp

[Stone Sheep Steve]

Neat pics. Looks like a she bear to me.

[Fred1]

Coooool! !

[VLD43]

It's possible it could have been a problem bear that was relocated and collared to track it's movement. Saw a grizzly up on the Coq years ago, and asked a CO about the bear, as i didn't think there were grizzlies in that area. The CO told me that in fact it was the only grizzly in that area and had been relocated, as it was a problem bear. Food for thought.

[twoSevenO]

It's possible it could have been a problem bear that was relocated and collared to track it's movement. Saw a grizzly up on the Coq years ago, and asked a CO about the bear, as i didn't think there were grizzlies in that area. The CO told me that in fact it was the only grizzly in that area and had been relocated, as it was a problem bear. Food for thought.

I feel like if you deliberately introduce an animal where it doesn't normally live and so close to "town" there should be some kind of notice for hunters and hikers lol.

Was this west or east side of the coq?

[browningboy]

Wonder if that's the bear by my buddies cabin that we call the prison bear, just takes huge dumps.

[srupp]

They have special designated valleys to drop problem bears off in.Kwatna bay was once such a an area..
Steven

[skibum]

I feel like if you deliberately introduce an animal where it doesn't normally live and so close to "town" there should be some kind of notice for hunters and hikers lol.

Was this west or east side of the coq?

First this is a great thread --

I have only seen black bears up on the coquihalla - mainly in the avalanche shoots.

I was hiking (really scrabbling) Yak Peak last weekend and found one very big pile of blue berry bear scat - if that was from a grizzly, I would like to know as the Yak Peak trail is narrow, steep and un-passable on either side. Either way black or grizzly, it would not have been fun to be looking at a bear looking down at me on that trail.

[MB_Boy]

I found this with a quick Google.





Coastal-Interior Transition Study. This research project has been designed to evaluate existing grizzly bear/forestry best management practices in the coast-interior transition of southern BC (Lillooet Timber Supply Area). By conducting a scientific investigation of the ecology of grizzly bears, the project will examine hypotheses related to the impacts of forest practices such as forest road access, timber harvesting and post harvesting silviculture practices on landscape level forage supply, stand-level critical habitats, and denning habitat. Research results will be translated into explicit habitat and population objectives and targets, revised guidelines for forest planners and forestry practitioners, as well as peer reviewed publications. Objectives will be met through a combination of DNA/hair collection in a mark-recapture inventory, capture, radio-collaring and monitoring of a representative sample of resident bears, and the creation of a predictive model of habitat value based on spatially-explicit resource selection functions. Five grizzly bears have been collared with GPS/ARGOS up-link collars. These collars send location data every 4 days and thus enable field crews to examine sites used by the bears shortly after the bears leave.

[Seeadler]

That's my pet bear, his name is Ike, please bring him home, my name and address are on the collar.

[VLD43]

I feel like if you deliberately introduce an animal where it doesn't normally live and so close to "town" there should be some kind of notice for hunters and hikers lol.

Was this west or east side of the coq?

The bear I mentioned seeing up the Coq, was east, in the top of Kelly Creek.

[Camp Cook]

I've been hearing rumours over the years that they have been releasing grizzlies in that area.

Could be a released bear.