Abstract 217 – Aversive conditioning increases short-term wariness but does not change habitat use in black bears associated with conflict

Lori Homstol, Sage Raymond, Claire Edwards, Anthony N. Hamilton, Colleen
Cassady St. Clair

Conflict between humans and black bears (Ursus americanus) occurs throughout North America
with increasing public demand to replace lethal management with non-lethal methods, such as
aversive conditioning (AC). AC aims to teach animals to associate negative stimuli with humans
or their infrastructure. We sought to test the efficacy of AC using radiocollared black bears in
Whistler, British Columbia, by monitoring individuals and assigning those in conflict with people
to control or treatment groups. We measured wariness using overt reaction distance,
displacement distance, and reaction to researchers before, during and after executing 3–5-day
AC programs that consisted of launching projectiles at bears in the treatment group. We also
assessed predictors of successful AC events (i.e., leaving at a run), changes in bear use of
human-dominated habitat during the day and at night, and the effects of including a sound
stimulus to signal the beginning and end of AC events. Among treated bears, overt reaction
distance increased by 46.5% and displacement distance increased by 69.0% following AC
programs, whereas both overt reaction distance and displacement distance decreased over
time among control group bears. Each additional AC event during the previous 30 days
increased likelihood of bear departure in response to researcher presence by 4.5%. The success
of AC events varied among individuals, declined with distance to cover, and increased with
exposure to previous AC events. Projectiles launched from guns were slightly more effective at
causing bears to displace compared to those launched from slingshots, and sound stimuli
decreased the likelihood of a successful AC event. AC did not alter diurnal use by bears of
human-dominated habitat. Our results suggest that AC increases short-term wariness in black
bears but does not alter bear use of human-dominated spaces, highlighting the importance of
proactive attractant management and prevention of food conditioning.