Ecotourism did not predispose grizzly bears to subsequent conflict

A new study, “Grizzly bears detected at ecotourism sites are less likely than predicted by chance to encounter conflict” (Open Access freely available, article here) released today in the journal, Canadian Journal of Zoology, finds that grizzly bears that were exposed to ecotourism at spawning salmon sites in a protected area were less likely than chance to be involved in human-wildlife conflict in downstream communities.

Scientists asked whether individual bears present at ecotourism sites, known to be tolerant of people, were more likely to be involved in human-wildlife conflict in the Bella Coola valley, Nuxalk Territory, British Columbia. Individuals were genetically identified from non-invasive hair-snags at ecotour sites and were screened for matches with samples from bears that encountered conflict with people about 40-60 km downstream from the Tweedsmuir Park ecotourism sites. 

Raw data alone suggested that a match was rare. Of the 34 individual bears that were identified in the ecotour area, only one later encountered conflict with humans.  

But to more thoroughly assess how likely such a scenario was, the study used a probability approach to ask how large the unknown, non-ecotour bear population would have to be to observe this 1 out of 34 frequency of conflict among ecotour bears by chance. The resulting population level greatly exceeded available estimates for the region, suggesting ecotour bears are in fact less likely to encounter conflict than by chance. 

“Sometimes wildlife that are tolerant of benign human activity are also bolder animals, and might therefore be more vulnerable to encountering human conflict. Our study, however, found no evidence to suggest tolerant ecotour bears are getting into trouble in communities,” says Kate Field, PhD candidate at the University of Victoria and Conservation Scientist with the Raincoast Conservation Foundation. “How grizzlies make distinctions between humans based on the level of risk people pose would be a really fascinating avenue for future work in this area.”

The findings suggest that conflict was not related to tolerance of ecotourism, and that other human-caused drivers of conflict were likely at play. Often, these include unsecured human food attractants. “Recreation and ecotourism have shown that coexisting with predators like grizzly bears is not only possible, but also beneficial for communities and wildlife. This study highlighted an example where bears that are tolerant of wildlife viewing aren’t necessarily more prone to conflict encounters with people,” offers Katherine MacRae, Executive Director of the Commercial Bear Viewing Association, “This reminds us of the importance of responsible bear viewing practices in British Columbia and beyond.”

Coexisting with bears is not new to the Nuxalk Nation. To reduce conflict in the valley, the Nuxalk Bear Safe Program applies non-lethal approaches to preventing and mitigating conflict. “The program envisions not the bears as the source of conflict, but instead seeks to understand the relationship between bears and people on a case by case basis. In this was, we can work with our people to understand situation-specific causes of conflict,” offers project partner and co-author Jason Moody of the Nuxalk Fisheries and Wildlife Office. The Nuxalk Bear Safe Program is one among several in the Bella Coola Valley to provide education and proactive measures to reduce conflict.