Certificate - Etheses - Saurashtra University

1995; Nedelec et al., 1995; Kaczensky, 1996 and Swenson et al., 1999). Body size of
the predator was found to influence prey selection. Consequently, large brown bears
were more likely to kill cattle than smaller bears. Haglund (1968) found that adult
moose were killed mainly by large brown bears, and Eide (1965) found the same for
cattle on Kodiak Island. Adult male bears were found to be predominantly active
during night, and this time was crucial for livestock depredation (Wabakken and
Maartmann, 1994). In North America, domestic livestock and beehives were found to
attract to grizzly bears (Mattson, 1990). Under certain conditions, grizzly bears were
found to kill substantial number of cattle and sheep (Murie, 1948; Johnson and
Griffel, 1982; Jorgenson, 1983; Knight and Judd, 1983 and Brown, 1985). Both
grizzly and black bears were found to cause substantial damage to beehives
(Jorgensen et al., 1978). Along Rocky Mountain East Front in Montana, 44% of
conflicts were due to cattle depredation by bears and 40% were due to property
damage during 1980s (Aune and Kasworm, 1989). The conflict locations were found
to be most strongly associated with rivers and creeks, followed by sheep lambing
areas and fall sheep pastures and majority of conflicts occurred in a small portion of
the study area, where concentrations of attractants existed that overlapped with bear
habitat. During 1991-1994, 82% of all human-grizzly bear conflicts were attractant
related and approximately 55% of conflicts were associated with livestock presence
(Madel, 1996). Grizzlies were found to prefer ambush predation while preying on
large animals such as adult moose (Alces alces), elk (Cervus elaphus) and domestic
cattle (Murie, 1948 and Mattson, 1997). In Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and
Bolivia, Andean bears were perceived as livestock predators where herding was
common and direct observations of cattle depredation by bears were reported at 3
sites in Colombia and Ecuador (Goldstein, 2006). In Venezuela, numerous cases of
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