Urban Bear Endocrine Sampling

As a result of various stressors, including global climate change, wildlife adaptation and physiology is becoming an increasing concern. Understanding how wildlife respond to urban environments may help to mitigate wildlife conflict and bear mortality within the City of Prince George.
  • Research
  • Applied Research
Urban Bear

Research objective:

The aim of this research is to develop and validate methods to measure biomarkers of health and welfare in urban wildlife via endocrine sampling, with a focus on urban bears.

Start date – end date: April 1, 2025 – March 31, 2026 (pilot period)

Partner(s): Northern Bear Awareness, BC Conservation Officer Service

Funder: CNC Research Forest

Research Leads: Dr Laura Graham, Vanessa Uschenko

Endocrinological methods can inform about the health of urban bears in comparison to wild bears, assess overall health of local populations, increase our understanding of anthropogenic pressures, and mitigate bear-human conflict. This research will result in a resource that can be used by ecosystem/wildlife scientists and managers throughout Northern BC. The research team will collaborate with local and regional organizations who are interested in urban wildlife health outcomes and relationships between humans and wildlife.

Contact Us

For more information, please contact ieprojects@cnc.bc.ca or vrresearch@cnc.bc.ca