Population parameters and harvest risks for polar bears (Ursus maritimus) of Kane Basin, Canada and Greenland

Autor: H. Dean Cluff, Aqqalu Rosing-Asvid, Jeffrey L. Laake, Erik W. Born, Philip D. McLoughlin, Mitchell K. Taylor, François Messier
Rok vydání: 2007
Předmět:
Zdroj: Polar Biology. 31:491-499
ISSN: 1432-2056
0722-4060
DOI: 10.1007/s00300-007-0375-y
Popis: We estimated demographic parameters and current harvest risks for a population of polar bears (Ursus maritimus Phipps) inhabiting northern Smith Sound and Kane Basin, Canada and Greenland. Our demographic analysis included a detailed assessment of age- and sex-specific survival and recruitment from 141 marked polar bears, using information contained within the standing age distribution of captures and mark-recapture analysis. Total survival rates $$ (\ifmmode\expandafter\bar\else\expandafter\=\fi{x} \pm 1\;{\text{SE}}) $$ for females were: 0.374 ± 0.180 (cubs), 0.686 ± 0.157 (ages 1–4), and 0.967 ± 0.043 (ages 5+). Mean litter size was 1.67 ± 0.08 cubs. Females did not reproduce until at least age 6, which is late compared to other populations of polar bears. The model-averaged, mark–recapture estimate of mean abundance (±1 SE) for years 1994–1997 was 164 ± 35 bears. We incorporated demographic parameters and their variances into a harvest risk analysis (i.e., a stochastic, harvested population viability analysis, PVA). Results suggest that polar bears in the region were severely over-harvested during the mark–recapture interval (1992–1997). The current status of the population is unknown.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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