in great shape<\/a>, making them more difficult to catch and kill. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\nThere\u2019s still good news, however, biologists told Cowboy State Daily.<\/p>\n
Grizzlies might not be as dependent upon carcasses as some might think. And when times get tough, wolves and coyotes churn out bigger litters.<\/p>\n
The latter is a numbers game, which might on the surface seem cruel, because many of the pups will probably die.<\/p>\n
But from the perspective of the species as a whole, it\u2019s a way to win the long game, said Robert\u00a0Crabtree, the founder, chief scientist and president of the Yellowstone Ecological Research Center.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s them (wild canines) hedging their bets. It\u2019s a bet-hedging strategy,\u201d to have surplus young, even in bad years, he said.<\/p>\n
Bears Eat More Grass Than Meat<\/p>\n
Large adult male grizzlies are usually the first to emerge from winter dens, said Cecily Costello the statewide grizzly research biologist with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.<\/p>\n
So, they\u2019re usually the ones drawn to winterkill carcasses, she said.<\/p>\n
If there are fewer carcasses on the ground after a mild winter, \u201cIt might be an impact that\u2019s going to be felt by the mature males, the larger bears that are going to go out and compete for those types of food resources,\u201d Costello said.<\/p>\n
Even so, it might not be a crisis, she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the large males are coming out of the den with a lot of fat, it might not be a make-or-break situation\u201d for them to have fewer carcasses to choose from, she said.<\/p>\n
The most important grizzly food in springtime is fresh, thick, green grass, Costello said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of protein in green vegetation. And when it\u2019s newly sprouted, that\u2019s when it\u2019s most digestible for bears. As the grass matures, the protein structures become less digestible for bears and they get less out of it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Female grizzlies with cubs are usually the last to come out of the dens, usually emerging\u00a0when\u00a0vegetation is at its peak.<\/p>\n
Trying to fight big males over winterkill carcasses wouldn\u2019t be worth it for them anyway, she said.<\/p>\n
Having just gone through pregnancy, birth and lactation to feed their newborn cubs, mother grizzlies are going to be low on fat reserves, Costello said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe bears that are usually coming out of the dens with the lowest fat reserves are also the bears that don\u2019t compete for carcasses very well,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Moreover, female grizzlies with new cubs, or \u201ccubs of the year\u201d will avoid carcass sites. Because carcasses draw in large male grizzlies that might try to kill the cubs, she added.<\/p>\n
Instead, they\u2019ll take their cubs and head for the meadows.<\/p>\n
\u201cMoms with babies are big grazers,\u201d Costello said.<\/p>\n
As spring progresses, female elk, deer and antelope start giving birth to their young. Those calves and fawns can be targets of opportunity for grizzlies.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the calving and fawning season begins, the meat resource for bears becomes a live resource,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Hoping For Precipitation<\/p>\n
The fortunes of grizzlies could hinge upon spring snow, sleet and rain, said retired federal ecologist Chuck Neal\u00a0of\u00a0Cody.<\/p>\n
\u201cBear in mind that December, January and February are typically the driest months in Wyoming\u201d and were exceptionally dry this year, he said.<\/p>\n
Neal noted, that so far in March, the Cody area has seen some wet snow, which bodes well.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlant availability for grizzlies will depend upon precipitation during the rest of March, then April, May and June,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
With less winterkill, bears should be able to find other food, provided there\u2019s precipitation, he said.<\/p>\n
Moisture is also vital for producing alpine flowers at high altitudes. That\u2019s important for grizzlies, because once the flowers bloom and start producing nectar, that will attract migrating moths. And the grizzlies in turn can gorge themselves on the protein-rich moths, Neal said.<\/p>\n
The coming months will tell the tale for grizzlies,\u00a0he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt this time, I would not panic as to how bad it\u2019s going to be. But if the next four months are as dry as the last\u00a0four\u00a0months, then the bears, and the people, will be in trouble,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
If the pickings for bears stay lean throughout the summer, they\u2019ll be that much more apt to go after hunters\u2019 big game gut piles in the fall, which will lead to more human-bear conflict, he said.<\/p>\n
Churning Out Pups<\/p>\n
A lack of snow has likely made hunting harder for wolves, Crabtree said.<\/p>\n
Deep, crusty snow in the late winter and spring causes big game animals to \u201cpost hole,\u201d or sink down into the snow, while wolves can run across the top, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey will kill multiple animals in one night,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
With snow conditions being what they are this year, \u201cthat bonanza for wolves that occurs in late winter just isn\u2019t going to happen this year,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Coyotes are adaptable at scavenging from multiple sources, and hunting small animals, so they can adjust if winterkill big game carcasses are lacking, he said.<\/p>\n
Wolves and coyotes also push through lean times by having large litters. Wild canines are among the most prolific species.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have an average of six pups per female per year,\u201d Crabtree said.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s more, birthing and nursing pups isn\u2019t as rough on female wolves and coyotes as it is on other species.<\/p>\n
But in wolf packs, once the pups are weaned, \u201ctheir nutritional demands go way up,\u201d as they depend on adults to go hunting and bring them back meat.<\/p>\n
And if the adults can\u2019t\u00a0meet\u00a0the demand, pups start to starve.<\/p>\n
The major mortality factor in wolves, and the coyote population, is summer starvation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s why litters might get even bigger during lean years, like this one.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn a normal year, most of the pups die. But if it turns out to be a good year, then boom, they\u2019ve got a surplus population, and they can pass on their genetics,\u201d Crabtree said.<\/p>\n
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For Wyoming\u2019s big game herds, the winter of 2025-2026 was the polar opposite of the 2022-2023 winter, with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":520613,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[79,201],"class_list":["post-520612","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/520612","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=520612"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/520612\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/520613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=520612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=520612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=520612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}