Most population biologists believe that a minimum of 2000 grizzlies is necessary to guarantee long-term genetic viability as well as connections between various sub-populations like the Northern Continental Divide grizzlies and those in the Yellowstone area.Ĭompounding these problems for the Yellowstone grizzly is that some of its major food sources including spawning Yellowstone cutthroat trout have declined due to the introduction lake trout that consume the cutthroats in Yellowstone Lake, as well as the loss of a grizzly bear stable, whitebark whose nutritious seeds were an important fall food. This loss of genetic diversity is aggravated by the fact, that Yellowstone grizzly populations suffered a “genetic” bottleneck in the 1970s when their numbers may have been as low as several hundred bears. Dominant male grizzlies do the majority of breeding so that in effect, the genetic diversity of the population is significantly reduced. It is one of the slowest reproducing species in our region, with females typically breeding at age 5 or older. What the FWS failed to do is sufficiently consider the basic ecology of the grizzly bear. He wrote Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) also acted arbitrarily and capriciously in analyzing threats to the Yellowstone bears. The judge agreed with plaintiffs that the FWS had failed to consider how delisting would affect grizzly bear survival across the Northern Rockies. The decision effectively precluded (for now) the hunting of the bear in Idaho and Wyoming. Federal Judge Dana Christensen threw out the Fish and Wildlife Service’s (FWS) decision to delist the Yellowstone grizzly bear and returned the bear to Endangered Species Act protection.
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