Brown Bear Litter Sizes in Croatia

Mean litter sizes and maximum survival of cubs of brown bears (Ursus arctos) in Croatia were calculated based on 116 observations of 106 brown bear family groups. In addition to the number of cubs, each record contained the date, age of cubs (cubs-of-the-year [COY] or yearlings), and location (feedi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ursus (International Association for Bear Research and Management) 2001-01, Vol.12, p.103-105
Main Authors: Frković, Alojzije, Huber, Djuro, Kusak, Josip
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bears
Brown bears
Forest litter
Grizzly bears
International conferences
Litter size
Mothers
Polar bears
Population density
Population Dynamics
Yearlings
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Summary:Mean litter sizes and maximum survival of cubs of brown bears (Ursus arctos) in Croatia were calculated based on 116 observations of 106 brown bear family groups. In addition to the number of cubs, each record contained the date, age of cubs (cubs-of-the-year [COY] or yearlings), and location (feeding stations or other places). The mean litter size was 2.39 (n = 56, range 1-4) for COY and 1.96 (n = 50, range 1-4) for yearlings. The difference of 0.43 (18%) was significant. No significant difference in COY and yearling litter sizes was found between spring and fall of the same year. Significantly larger litters of all ages were observed with mothers away from feeding stations (x̄ = 2.36, n = 47), than at feeding stations (x̄ = 2.05, n = 59). This suggests that feeding bears in Croatia for management purposes has not influenced bear reproduction.
ISSN:1537-6176
1938-5439