Human bear conflict is a real problem in certain areas of the world and studies have been done to figure out why. Most people first thought of bears as being dangerous. They thought that the bears could really do some bad things to humans if they ever got their paws on us. Why was the research done over this topic? The research was done over Ursus Arctos (brown bears) because their diet and also their behavior was poorly misunderstood. Why was it an important field of study? It was an important field of study because people in the region was really concerned about the bear problem. The author’s hypothesis was that anthropogenic food would be a major component of the bear’s diet; the anthropogenic food would be lower in seasons with higher natural …show more content…
About 220- 260 per region that showed insects, maize, and fruit played a big part in what came out in the bear feces. Maize and insects are two of the most important foods the bears ate. Graminoids and forbs also were ate the most from the bears but it had very low energy content. They also found that it was a seasonal thing as well, in the spring time maize and carrion were at the top of the list for bears. In the summer insects was high on the list to eat. In autumn hard mast and fruit was the most important food to have. Livestock carrion was giving to the bears at the feeding sites year round but mainly in the spring was when the bears really wanted it. The most important food in Menisija was maize, insects was for Kocevsko, and hard mast and insects was for Sneznik. Despite the high availability of supplement food the intensity of human bear conflict is still high today, 450 reported damages, 200 reported cases of bears approaching human houses, and lethal removal of 15 problem bears. Studies have shown supplemental feeding will increase reproduction and human bear conflict will grow. They suggest caution with doing this to prevent or reduce the encounter with