The recovery of Yellowstone Lake

[JM77]

Think about the GYE like a thin crust pizza. The edges are not.nearly.as juicy or filled with toppings as the center. That center is YNP & the variety of food sources. It's the cheesy, Canadian bacon, mushroom & olive smothered center that you want to eat the most.

That's Yellowstone lake & the tributaries. Not all habitat is created equally and when you remove the juiciest toppings (cutts & white bark), you can still eat the pizza & sustain, but you won't get the most nutritious parts, like removing the bacon & mushrooms and leaving just the olives. That hurts all bears, and it hurts delisting. Especially when states traditionally.rely on Yellowstone to hold the core population of animals necessary for robust populations.

It's funny how bears seem to be getting further and further away from the pizza every year. Could it be because they have found new spawning beds?

 

[Ben Lamb]

It's funny how bears seem to be getting further and further away from the pizza every year. Could it be because they have found new spawning beds?

Or the center is no longer sustaining them therefore they expand to make up for what isn't sustaining them.

Grizzlies are generalists. They switch from food source to food source. The problem isn't so much on the bears end, but in the end of the long pig.

Put a ton of food in a smaller space (increase food sources in key habitats, for example - I.e. more cutts in the feeder creeks to the GYE) and you help reduce conflicts.

Bears absolutely are expanding. They should be managed by our state game & fish agencies. We should also make sure that those bears have the chance to live a good, people free life by ensuring their food sources are helped, enhanced & protected. That's why this is an important project - for the fish, for the bear & for us long pigs.

 

[JM77]

Or the center is no longer sustaining them therefore they expand to make up for what isn't sustaining them.

Grizzlies are generalists. They switch from food source to food source. The problem isn't so much on the bears end, but in the end of the long pig.

Put a ton of food in a smaller space (increase food sources in key habitats, for example - I.e. more cutts in the feeder creeks to the GYE) and you help reduce conflicts.

Bears absolutely are expanding. They should be managed by our state game & fish agencies. We should also make sure that those bears have the chance to live a good, people free life by ensuring their food sources are helped, enhanced & protected. That's why this is an important project - for the fish, for the bear & for us long pigs.

I'm going to start calling you Ben Craighead. Nice try though...

 

[BigHornRam]

I'd like some moths on my pizza please.

The most bizarre things grizzly bears eat, from elk to grass to moths

 

[tzone]

Pardon my ignorance...but, what was wrong with the lake?

 

[Oak]

Pardon my ignorance...but, what was wrong with the lake?

There is a link to the story in the original post. Click his "Good read right here."

 

[3855WIN]

I think the kid caught this one on opening day in the Park last year.

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[TheJason]

Nice fish!

 

[TheJason]

As to @JM77 question about the relevance and importance of this? I agree, if you are looking at bears in the Wind Rivers or Madison Valley it probably doesn’t rate much significance.

However, let’s be real. We know emotions can and do override scientific in the courtroom, and judges have rules against delisting on these emotional hunches. I think it’s fair to say that if the cutt population in Yellowstone Lake continued to spiral or stagnate it would not only pose serious concerns long term for the fish, but would also pose a huge obstacle to delist I the bear.

Seasonal food source or not, it’s historically been an important source. The importance of this is elevated when you consider it is right in the middle of the core area where bears are most protected and can always provide a population base for expansion.

I agree, it sucks to spend money on it, but I think it was absolutely the right decision.

 

[JM77]

Interesting read here on this subject. Notice which predator that is not mentioned as a possible reason for elk numbers declining since the mid 90's. Rather the story focuses on trout and bears.

"The loss of cutthroat trout is not hurting grizzly bear populations, said Mark Bruscino, large-carnivore section supervisor for Game and Fish. Trends show increasing numbers and densities of bears in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem. Grizzly bears are opportunistic, which means if cutthroat trout aren’t around, they’ll eat something else."

Again, I wish the lake trout didn't show up in Yellowstone Lake, but they did. I just get frustrated hearing about how ecosystems are changed over it.

Grizzlies may be link between drops in cutthroat trout and elk calves ...https://trib.com/.../grizzlies...cutthroat-trout.../article_822660d6-075b-50bf-9a35-daefa4...

 

[ClearCreek]

Considering there are over 200 (around 230-240) different items that grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem consume for food, there is a reason they are considered generalists when it comes to diet.

ClearCreek

 

[TheJason]

The loss of cutthroat trout is not hurting grizzly bear populations, said Mark Bruscino, large-carnivore section supervisor for Game and Fish. Trends show increasing numbers and densities of bears in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem. Grizzly bears are opportunistic, which means if cutthroat trout aren’t around, they’ll eat something else”

I agree completely. However, we both know the potential loss of a food source in the future has directly influenced a court ruling on delisting.

 

[Irrelevant]

I 100% support all actions that lead to more giant cutties.