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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
The diet of free-ranging bears is an important dimension regarding their ecology, affecting
their behavior, population structure, and relation with humans. In Croatia, there has been no recent
study on the natural food habits of brown bears (Ursus arctos) or the influence of artificial feeding sites
on their diet. During 2017, we collected 53 brown bear stomachs from bears in 2 regions of Croatia—
Gorski Kotar and Lika—to assess their diet. Plants—Allium ursinum, the Poaceae family, Cornus mas,
berries (i.e., Prunus avium, Rubus plicatus), beechnuts (Fagus spp.)—and various plant parts (i.e., dry
leaves, buds, conifer needles, and twigs), as well as mushrooms, made up 80% of the percentage of
the volume (%V) of all consumed items. Corn (Zea mays) from the feeding sites made up 37% of
the bears’ diet (%V), whereas 20% (%V) was meat and 14% (%V) was pome fruits. Scavenged or
preyed animal species, such as wild boar (Sus scrofa), horse (Equus caballus), domestic pig (S. scrofa
domesticus), cattle (Bos taurus), roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), and small mammals comprised >66%
of %FO (frequency of occurrence), but only 20% of %V. Our results showed that food resources (i.e.,
livestock such as horses, cattle, and pigs, and corn) found at supplemental feeding sites were more
frequently chosen by bears than natural food in 2017, a year characterized by almost no beechnut
crop. The results showed that subadult bears obtained most food from feeding sites. These 2 patterns
suggested that bears may focus on artificial feeding sites to find food in years when natural food sources
are depleted, although this should be tested using diet and food availability data collected from several
years.
Description
Keywords
artificial feeding brown bear Croatia diet mast natural food supplemental feeding Ursus arctos
Pedagogical Context
Citation
Joana Pereira, Leona Viličić, Luís Miguel Rosalino, Slaven Reljić, Marina Habazin, and Đuro Huber "Brown bear feeding habits in a poor mast year where supplemental feeding occurs," Ursus 2021(32e1), 1-13, (5 February 2021). https://doi.org/10.2192/URSUS-D-19-00023.3
Publisher
International Association for Bear Research and Management