DNR asks bear hunters not to shoot radio-collared bears
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) asks hunters participating in
Minnesota’s bear season, which opens Sept. 1, to avoid shooting radio-collared
research bears.
The bears are marked with large colorful ear tags or colorful streamers.
DNR researchers are monitoring about 30 radio-collared
black bears, most of them in northwestern Minnesota, especially near Thief Lake Wildlife
Management Area and the Agassiz National Wildlife Refuge. Additional
radio-collared bears reside in and around the Chippewa National Forest, Camp Ripley, Cloquet Forestry Station and Voyageurs National Park.
Bear research also is being conducted between Ely and Tower near the Eagles
Nest chain of lakes in northern St. Louis County.
“Hunters near these areas should be especially vigilant for these valuable
research bears,” said Dave Garshelis, DNR bear research biologist. “These animals
provide long-term data on reproduction and habitat use that is invaluable for
bear management across the state.
“We’re asking that if hunters see ear tags or a collar on a bear, they refrain
from shooting it,” Garshelis said. “Researchers have invested an enormous
amount of time and expense in these individuals.”
Many of the collars have GPS units that collect and store data, which is downloaded by DNR researchers when they visit the bears in
their dens. Long-term records of individual bears have been the cornerstone of
information that helps the DNR monitor and manage the bear population, Garshelis said.
DNR officials recognize that a hunter may not
be able to see a radio collar or ear tags in some situations. For this reason,
taking a bear with a radio collar is legal unless the bear is accompanied by a
researcher who has identified the bear to the hunter as a research animal.
Photos of some collared research bears are available on the DNR website at www.mndnr.gov/hunting/bear.
Any hunters who shoot collared bears should call the DNR Wildlife Research Office in Grand Rapids at 218-327-4146 or 218-327-4133.
