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Post by Gorilla king on Oct 22, 2021 10:11:09 GMT -5
The Louisiana black bear (Ursus americanus luteolus), one of 16 subspecies of the American black bear, is found in parts of Louisiana, mainly along the Mississippi River Valley and the Atchafalaya River Basin. It was classified as 'threatened' under the U.S. Endangered Species Act from 1992-2016. The validity of this subspecies has been repeatedly debated.[1] Description
The subspecies does not have a substantially different appearance than the nominate U. americanus americanus, but the skull is relatively long, narrow and flat and the molars are proportionately large.[2] The fur color is usually black, but a cinnamon phase is known to exist.[3]
Distribution and habitat
The Louisiana black bear historically occurred in Louisiana, Mississippi, East Texas and Arkansas.[1]
Four areas are currently known to have populations of the black bear:[4]
St. Mary Parish and Iberia Parish in south Louisiana,Pointe Coupee Parish in central Louisiana,the Richard K. Yancey Wildlife Management Area in Concordia and Avoyelles Parishes, in east-central LouisianaTensas, Madison, and West Carroll Parishes in northeast Louisiana.
The Louisiana black bear can travel for long distances and has been sighted in many areas of Louisiana not normally considered bear habitat.[4] Occurrences are reported from East Texas and subpopulations have expanded into Mississippi.[5] Black bears have been sighted in Kisatchie National Forest,[6] Allen Parish, Natchitoches Parish, East Baton Rouge,[7] and Bossier City.
Conservation
While the IUCN classifies the conservation situation of the black bear as a species as Least Concern, the Louisiana black bear as a subspecies was listed as 'threatened' under the U.S. Endangered Species Act in 1992. Under this ruling, all bears within the historic range of the Louisiana black bear, from eastern Texas to southern Mississippi, have been protected. On April 11, 2016, the Louisiana black bear was removed from the list as well as the Similarity-of-Appearance Protections for the American black bear.[8]
Loss of habitat was the primary reason the bear was placed on the federal endangered species list. Programs and initiatives have resulted in the conservation and restoration of over 600,000 acres (240,000 ha) of forestland in the Mississippi River floodplain of Louisiana. The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have acquired land for Wildlife Management Areas and National Wildlife Refuges. Reforestation on private property has been accomplished through U.S.D.A. programs such as the Wetlands Reserve Program and Conservation Reserve Program,[9] the American Forest Foundation, as well as through programs of private conservation organizations such as the Black Bear Conservation Coalition (BBCC),[10] The Nature Conservancy and Ducks Unlimited.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana_black_bear
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Post by Gorilla king on Oct 22, 2021 10:18:41 GMT -5
Louisiana black bear Ursus americanus luteolus
The Louisiana black bear is the state mammal for Louisiana, and it is one of 16 subspecies of the American black bear. While the American black bear can be found across North America, the Louisiana black bear subspecies is only known to occur in Louisiana, east Texas and western Mississippi. Compared to other black bears, the Louisiana black bear’s skull is longer, narrower and flatter, with larger molar teeth.
By 1980, more than 80 percent of the Louisiana black bear’s habitat had been modified or destroyed, and on January 7, 1992, the bear was listed as threatened within its historical range.
On March 10, 2016 the Service removed this species from the List of Threatened and Endangered Wildlife under the Endangered Species Act due to recovery. Recovery was made possible thanks to the active partnerships of many private landowners, state and federal agencies, universities and non-governmental organizations. Since the Louisiana black bear was listed in 1992, voluntary landowner-incentive-based habitat restoration programs and environmental regulations have not only stopped the net loss of forested lands in the Lower Mississippi River Alluvial River Valley, but have resulted in significant habitat gains. A major factor in this positive habitat trend is the success of incentive-based private land restoration programs, such as the Wetland reserve program. Since 1992, more than 148,000 ac of habitat has been permanently protected and/or restored through the WRP program. Additional private lands have been restored through the efforts of private landowners and organizations. Over 65,000 additional acres of bottomland hardwood forest has been protected and restored through the efforts of such groups as Wildlife Mississippi, Mississippi Land Trust Mississippi River Trust, Black Bear Conservation Coalition, Bear Education and restoration Group of Mississippi and the East Texas Black Bear Task Force.
Currently we estimate that between 500 and 750 Louisiana black bears roam the United States, approximately double the population size at the time of listing. We have used techniques such as live trapping, winter den inspections, radio telemetry monitoring, and DNA sampling to determine population size.
Appearance
The black bear is a large, bulky animal with long black hair and a short, well-haired tail. Their weight can vary considerably, but males may weigh more than 600 pounds. The face is blunt, the eyes small, and the nose pad broad with large nostrils. The muzzle is a yellowish-brown with a white patch sometimes present on the lower throat and chest. Black bears have five toes with short, curved claws on the front and back feet.
www.fws.gov/southeast/wildlife/mammals/louisiana-black-bear/
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Post by Gorilla king on Oct 22, 2021 10:24:44 GMT -5
Lawsuit filed to put Louisiana Black Bear back on endangered species list
LAFAYETTE, La- A lawsuit filed Wednesday by several groups is seeking to return the Louisiana Black Bear to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife.
The Louisiana Black Bear was removed from the list in March 2016.
The lawsuit, filed September 30 in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana, is disputing the FWS' claim that the bears have recovered their populations.
The agency claims that those recovered numbers amount to between 500 and 750 bears which is double the bear's population when it was first listed as endangered in 1992.
The filers say that those estimated numbers are not correct and may be fewer due to the introduction of non-native black bears from Minnesota in the 1960s.
The suit says that the FWS is attempting to pass off non-native or hybridized black bears as true Louisiana black bears to claim that recovery goals have been met.
Bringing the lawsuit are Atchafalaya Basinkeeper, Louisiana Crawfish Producers Association West, Sierra Club and its Delta Chapter, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), Healthy Gulf, and individual plaintiffs Ronald M. Nowak, Harold Schoeffler, and Dr. Michael J. Caire.
A previous suit was dismissed earlier this year.
The filers say that the Louisiana black bear has lost 99 percent of its historic population of 80,000 bears and 97 percent of its 120,000 square mile historic range.
Besides hybridization, the filers say that the Louisiana black bear faces loss of remaining habitat and isolation of the coastal population due to further development along Highway 90 and future eastward extension of Interstate 49 down that same route.
They add that, in addition, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries is exploring the possibility of resuming bear hunts.
"These groups and individuals support ethical hunting of wildlife, but recognize that it is not presently possible to ethically hunt the Louisiana black bear with such low numbers and substantial threats remaining," the Basinkeepers said. "Only through proper management and protection under the ESA will the bear ever reach sufficient numbers to support a future hunt."
The Louisiana black bear (Ursus americanus luteolus) is one of 16 subspecies of the American black bear. It is often referred to as “Teddy’s Bear,” because President Theodore Roosevelt once famously refused to shoot one that had been tied to a tree, saying it would not be sporting.
www.ktbs.com/news/lawsuit-filed-to-put-louisiana-black-bear-back-on-endangered-species-list/article_f3d75a8c-0385-11eb-b3cd-23d58ec2eb43.html
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Post by Gorilla king on Oct 22, 2021 10:33:52 GMT -5
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Post by Gorilla king on Oct 22, 2021 10:38:57 GMT -5
LOUISIANA BLACK BEAR (URSUS AMERICANUS LUTEOLUS)
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Post by Gorilla king on Oct 22, 2021 10:41:33 GMT -5
LOUISIANA BLACK BEAR
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Post by Gorilla king on Oct 22, 2021 17:38:04 GMT -5
Demographic rates and population viability of black bears in Louisiana: Population Viability of Louisiana Black Bears
Abstract and Figures
The Louisiana black bear (Ursus americanus luteolus) was reduced to a few small, fragmented, and isolated subpopulations in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley by the mid-twentieth century resulting from loss and fragmentation of habitat. In 1992, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) granted the Louisiana black bear threatened status under the United States Endangered Species Act of 1973. Since that time, a recovery plan was developed, a reintroduced population was established, and habitat recovery has occurred. The Recovery Plan states that a minimum of 2 populations must be viable (i.e., persistence probabilities over 100 years >0.95), 1 in the Tensas River Basin and 1 in the Atchafalaya River Basin. Consequently, our objectives were to 1) estimate demographic rates of Louisiana black bear subpopulations, 2) develop data-driven stochastic population projection models, and 3) determine how different projection model assumptions affect population trajectories and predictions about long-term persistence. Our overall goal was to assess long-term persistence of the bear subpopulations in Louisiana, individually and as a whole. We collected data using varying combinations of non-invasive DNA sampling, live capture, winter den visits, and radio monitoring from 2002 to 2012 in the 4 areas currently supporting breeding subpopulations in Louisiana: Tensas River Basin (TRB), Upper Atchafalaya River Basin (UARB), Lower Atchafalaya River Basin (LARB), and a recently reintroduced population at the Three Rivers Complex (TRC). From 2002 to 2012, we radio monitored fates of 86 adult females within the TRB and 43 in the TRC. Mean estimates of annual adult survival for the TRB and TRC were 0.997 and 0.990, respectively, when unknown fates were assumed alive and 0.970 and 0.926 when unknown fates were assumed dead. From 2003 to 2013, we observed 130 cub litters from 74 females in the TRB, and 74 cub litters from 45 females in the TRC. During the same period, we observed 43 yearling litters for 33 females in the TRB and 21 yearling litters for 19 females in the TRC. The estimated number of cubs and number of yearlings produced per breeding adult female was 0.47 and 0.20, respectively, in the TRB and 0.32 and 0.18 in the TRC. On the basis of matrix projection models, asymptotic growth rates ranged from 1.053 to 1.078 for the TRB and from 1.005 to 1.062 for the TRC, depending on how we treated unresolved fates of adult females. Persistence probabilities estimated from stochastic population models based on telemetry data ranged from 0.997 to 0.998 for the TRC subpopulation depending on model assumptions and were >0.999 for the TRB regardless of model assumptions. We extracted DNA from hair collected at baited, barbed-wire enclosures in the TRB, UARB, and LARB to determine individual identities for capture-mark-recapture (CMR) analysis. We used those detection histories to estimate apparent survival (φ), per-capita recruitment (f), abundance (N), realized growth rate (λ), and long-term viability, based on Bayesian hierarchical modeling methods that allowed estimation of temporal process variance and parameter uncertainty. Based on 23,312 hair samples, annual N for females in the TRB ranged from 133 to 164 during 2006–2012, depending on year and how detection heterogeneity was modeled. Geometric mean of λ ranged from 0.996 to 1.002. In the UARB, we collected 11,643 hair samples from 2007 to 2012, from which estimates of N for females ranged from 23 to 43 during the study period, depending on detection heterogeneity model. The geometric mean of λ ranged from 1.038 to 1.059. Estimated N for females in LARB ranged from 69 to 96, and annual λ ranged from 0.80 to 1.11 based on 3,698 hair samples collected during 2010–2012, also depending on year and heterogeneity model. Probabilities of persistence over 100 years for the TRC and TRB based on stochastic matrix projection models that used vital rate estimates from telemetry data were >0.95 for all scenarios. Probability of persistence at the TRB and the UARB based on projection models that used vital rate estimates from CMR analyses ranged from 0.928 to 0.954 and from 0.906 to 0.959, respectively, depending on model assumptions. Data from the LARB were insufficient for a viability assessment. Thus, individual persistence probabilities for TRB and UARB did not meet the strict definition of viability (i.e., >0.95) under some model assumptions. However, the joint probability of bears persisting either in the TRB or UARB was >0.993 assuming individual population dynamics were independent and was >0.958 assuming dynamics were perfectly correlated. Furthermore, including the TRC increased the joint probability of bears persisting somewhere in the TRB, UARB, or TRC to >0.999 based on the most pessimistic individual persistence estimates from those subpopulations. Therefore, if the intent of specifying that 2 subpopulations should be viable was to ensure the persistence of Louisiana black bears somewhere within its historical range, then the viability threshold was met.
www.researchgate.net/publication/304005189_Demographic_rates_and_population_viability_of_black_bears_in_Louisiana_Population_Viability_of_Louisiana_Black_Bears
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Post by Gorilla king on Oct 22, 2021 17:39:43 GMT -5
Effects of hurricanes Katrina and Rita on Louisiana black bear habitat
Abstract and Figures
The Louisiana black bear (Ursus americanus luteolus) is comprised of 3 subpopulations, each being small, geographically isolated, and vulnerable to extinction. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita struck the Louisiana and Mississippi coasts in 2005, potentially altering habitat occupied by this federally threatened subspecies. We used data collected on radiotelemetered bears from 1993 to 1995 and pre-hurricane landscape data to develop a habitat model based on the Mahalanobis distance (D²) statistic. We then applied that model to post-hurricane landscape data where the telemetry data were collected (i.e., occupied study area) and where bear range expansion might occur (i.e., unoccupied study area) to quantify habitat loss or gain. The D² model indicated that quality bear habitat was associated with areas of high mastproducing forest density, low water body density, and moderate forest patchiness. Crossvalidation and testing on an independent data set in central Louisiana indicated that prediction and transferability of the model were good. Suitable bear habitat decreased from 348 to 345 km² (0.9%) within the occupied study area and decreased from 34,383 to 33,891 km² (1.4%) in the unoccupied study area following the hurricanes. Our analysis indicated that bear habitat was not significantly degraded by the hurricanes, although changes that could have occurred on a microhabitat level would be more difficult to detect at the resolution we used. We suggest that managers continue to monitor the possible long-term effects of these hurricanes (e.g., vegetation changes from flooding, introduction of toxic chemicals, or water quality changes).
www.researchgate.net/publication/262097957_Effects_of_hurricanes_Katrina_and_Rita_on_Louisiana_black_bear_habitat
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Post by Gorilla king on Oct 22, 2021 17:42:10 GMT -5
Food Habits of Louisiana Black Bears (Ursus americanus luteolus) in Two Subpopulations of the Tensas River Basin
Abstract
The Louisiana black bear (Ursus americanus luteolus) is listed federally as a threatened subspecies and current information about food habits is necessary for developing a sound conservation strategy. We collected and analyzed 251 scats from bears in the Tensas River Basin (TRB) population in northeast Louisiana. We compared diets of the two subpopulations (Tensas and Deltic) of the TRB and we observed differences during summer and fall. We suggest that the greater diversity of mast consumed by bears on Deltic may provide demographic stability to this small isolated subpopulation. Across the TRB, corn (Zea mays) made up the greatest percentage volume of scats and dominated summer and fall diet, whereas beetles (Coleoptera) were the food item found most frequently in scats. Other important food items included: blackberries and dewberries (Rubus spp.), acorns (Quercus spp.), palmetto fruit (Sabal minor), grasses/sedges (Poaceae or Cyperaceae), herbaceous vegetation and other species of soft mast.
www.researchgate.net/publication/232667289_Food_Habits_of_Louisiana_Black_Bears_Ursus_americanus_luteolus_in_Two_Subpopulations_of_the_Tensas_River_Basin
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