Stable isotopes reveal rail-associated behavior in a threatened carnivore

• Published in: Isotopes in environmental and health studies 2014-01, Vol.50 (3), p.322-331
• Main Authors: Hopkins, John B., Whittington, Jesse, Clevenger, Anthony P., Sawaya, Michael A., St. Clair, Colleen Cassady
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Alberta; Animal Distribution; Animals; Carbon Isotopes - metabolism; carbon-13; Conservation of Natural Resources; Feeding Behavior; grizzly bears; Hair - chemistry; isotope ecology; Nitrogen Isotopes - metabolism; nitrogen-15; railway; Stable Isotopes in Mammals; Sulfur Isotopes - metabolism; sulfur-34; trains; Ursidae - physiology; Ursus arctos
• ISSN: 1477-2639; 1025-6016; 1477-2639
• DOI: 10.1080/10256016.2014.922555

Human–wildlife conflict is a leading cause of adult mortality for large carnivores worldwide. Train collision is the primary cause of mortality for threatened grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) in Banff National Park. We investigated the use of stable isotope analysis as a tool for identifying bears that use the railway in Banff. Rail-associated bears had higher δ ¹⁵N and δ ³⁴S values than bears sampled away from the rail, but similar δ ¹³C values. Because elevated δ ¹⁵N values are indicative of higher animal protein consumption, rail-associated bears likely preyed on ungulates that foraged along the rail or scavenged on train-killed animals. The higher δ ³⁴S values in bear hair could have resulted from bears consuming sulfur pellets spilled on the rail or through the uptake of sulfur in the plants bears or animals consumed. Similar δ ¹³C values suggest that the two types of bears had generally similar plant-based diets. Results from this study suggest that stable isotopes analysis could be used as a non-invasive, affordable, and efficient technique to identify and monitor bears that forage on the railway in Banff and potentially other transportation corridors worldwide.