Poster Session II
Project Type
Poster
Faculty Mentor’s Full Name
Lisa Eby
Faculty Mentor’s Department
WBIO/DECS
Abstract / Artist's Statement
Human-wildlife conflicts involving large carnivores, such as bears, pose a significant challenge to conservation efforts. As humans encroach into wildlands, expanding overlap with black bear populations, their interactions and conflicts increase. Conflicts are defined as any action by bears resulting in the destruction of property or threatening public safety. Though conflicts continue to rise, it is difficult to determine the effectiveness of different approaches for prioritizing management actions. To address this gap, this study conducted a synthetic review, identifying current approaches being used, the effectiveness of these methods, and which of these may be useful for Montana. Google Scholar was used to search the keywords “methods for conflict minimization for black bears,” for 2010-2025, yielding 17,500 results, with 40 articles that used or tested management methods for black bears. Of these, 15 studies were selected as most relevant. The studies highlight various strategies to reduce the availability of anthropogenic foods and human habituation. These strategies include aversion conditioning, education programs, legal action on waste management, baiting outside of urban areas, hunting, and the installation of electric fencing (during low food availability), or a combination of these strategies. The success of the strategy was evaluated through sightings and/or reports made to authorities via help lines of problem bears. A reduction in calls or reports was assumed to equal a reduction in conflict incidents. The initial results indicate that a combination of management methods, emphasizing prevention rather than reactive measures, may be the most effective strategy to reduce human-bear conflicts.
Evaluating strategies to reduce human-bear conflicts: a synthetic review
UC South Ballroom
Human-wildlife conflicts involving large carnivores, such as bears, pose a significant challenge to conservation efforts. As humans encroach into wildlands, expanding overlap with black bear populations, their interactions and conflicts increase. Conflicts are defined as any action by bears resulting in the destruction of property or threatening public safety. Though conflicts continue to rise, it is difficult to determine the effectiveness of different approaches for prioritizing management actions. To address this gap, this study conducted a synthetic review, identifying current approaches being used, the effectiveness of these methods, and which of these may be useful for Montana. Google Scholar was used to search the keywords “methods for conflict minimization for black bears,” for 2010-2025, yielding 17,500 results, with 40 articles that used or tested management methods for black bears. Of these, 15 studies were selected as most relevant. The studies highlight various strategies to reduce the availability of anthropogenic foods and human habituation. These strategies include aversion conditioning, education programs, legal action on waste management, baiting outside of urban areas, hunting, and the installation of electric fencing (during low food availability), or a combination of these strategies. The success of the strategy was evaluated through sightings and/or reports made to authorities via help lines of problem bears. A reduction in calls or reports was assumed to equal a reduction in conflict incidents. The initial results indicate that a combination of management methods, emphasizing prevention rather than reactive measures, may be the most effective strategy to reduce human-bear conflicts.