Mama grizzly bears appear to know best when it comes to teaching
cubs about their habitat, according to new research from the
University of Alberta. The four-year project, published earlier
this month in the scientific journal PLOS ONE, studied whether
the rearing of cubs by their mothers shapes habitat selection.
“It’s really almost a test of nature versus nurture,” said Scott
Nielsen, lead researcher and an assistant professor at the U of
A’s department of renewable resources. “Nature would be more the
genetics or instinct. “The nurture side would be ... about that
experience, the learning, about how the female raises its cubs.”
In the case of grizzly bears, Nielsen said how the cubs were
raised matters. The study, which took place in the foothills of
west-central Alberta, tracked 32 adult and young grizzly bears
that had been fitted with GPS radio collars. Their movements
were monitored from 31,849 locations over an area of 9,752
kilometres. “There are different strategies that are being
employed by the be