The Scandinavian Brown Bear Project Print this page
Abstract:
We compared a hunter-provided index of the annual population trend of brown bears (Ursus arctos) in Sweden during 1963-91 with harvest rates with time lags of 0-20 years. We conclude that this trend index probably reflected at least the major trends of the population. Harvest rates 6, 8, and 14 years earlier explained 83% of the variation in the population trend, as perceived by the hunters. From these data, we estimated a sustainable legal harvest of 44.5 bears in 1991. This estimate is very close to that of 43-50 bears, which we have estimated using independent methods. In addition, estimates of the harvest level to maintain the present rate of increase calculated by both methods were also similar. Although man hunters have been unhappy with the present quota system, this analysis of hunter-provided data gave support to the present quota
levels.
1996, J. Wildl. Res. 1:228-231.