Biologists monitoring the grizzly bear population in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem now estimate the population tops 1,000. They attribute that number to a new population estimate model called “Chao2.”
According to the Jackson Hole News & Guide. That counting method resulting in 371 independent male grizzlies age two or older and about an equal number of females. On top of that, there are an estimated 326 cubs on the landscape.
“That adds up to 1,069 bears, total population size for the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem,” Frank van Manen recently told the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee, as reported by the Jackson Hole News & Guide. “That’s a higher number, of course, than we reported last year. That’s strictly due to the change in methods of the Chao2.”
The previous count estimated more than 720 bears.
Either way, biologists maintain the grizzly population is healthy and growing.
The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation agrees with biologists and game managers that the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem grizzly population met all criteria and should be delisted and managed by state wildlife agencies.
Earlier in 2021, the state of Wyoming petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to delist grizzlies so they could be managed.
(Photo credit: Frank van Manen/US Fish and Wildlife Service)