Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program: New Mexico
Education, Research and Technical Assistance for Managing Our Natural Resources

New Mexico Project

Estimation of black bear densities in New Mexico using noninvasive genetic analyses

August 2011 - December 2016

Personnel

Participating Agencies

  • New Mexico Department of Game and Fish
  • Vermejo Park Ranch
  • T & E, Inc
Black Bear at hair snare in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, New Mexico

One of the main challenges for wildlife management agencies is to set harvest levels that ensure for the long-term persistence of populations. Our primary objective is to estimate the abundance and density of black bears >1year of age using noninvasive sampling and mark-recapture estimation within two bear management zones currently used by New Mexico Department of Game and Fish to establish harvest objectives and manage black bears in New Mexico.

Research Publications Publication Date
Gould, M.J., J.W. Cain III, G.W. Roemer, W.R. Gould, and S. G. Liley. 2018. Density of American black bears in New Mexico. Journal of Wildlife Management 82:775-788. | Download May 2018
Gould, M.J., W.R. Gould, J.W. Cain III, and G.W Roemer. 2019. Validating performance of occupancy models for estimating habitat use and predicting the distribution of highly-mobile species: a case study using the American black bear. Biological Conservation 234:28-36. | Download March 2019
Technical Publications Publication Date
Gould, M.J., J.W. Cain III, G.W. Roemer, and W.R. Gould. 2014. Estimating abundance and density of American black bears (Ursus americanus) in New Mexico using noninvasive genetic sampling-based capture-recapture methods: Report on 2012 data collection in the northern Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Annual project report to New Mexico Department of Game and Fish. August 2014
Gould, M.J., J.W. Cain III, G.W. Roemer, and W.R. Gould. 2015. Estimating abundance and density of American black bears (Ursus americanus) in New Mexico using noninvasive genetic sampling-based capture-recapture methods: Report on 2013 data collection and analysis for the southern Sangre de Cristo Mountains and an updated analysis for the northern Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Annual project report to New Mexico Department of Game and Fish. October 2015
Gould, M.J., J.W. Cain III, G.W. Roemer, and W.R. Gould. 2016. Estimating abundance and density of American black bears (Ursus americanus) in New Mexico using noninvasive genetic sampling coupled with spatially explicit capture-recapture methods. Report provided by the Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit Program. U.S. Department of Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, Cooperator Science Series FWS/CSS-120-2016, National Conservation Training Center. June 2016
Presentations Presentation Date
Gould, M. J., J.W. Cain III, G.W. Roemer, W.R. Gould, and S.G. Liley. 2013. Estimating the abundance and density of American black bears (Ursus Americanus) in New Mexico using non-invasive genetic analysis. 46th Joint Annual Meeting of the Arizona/New Mexico Chapters of The Wildlife Society, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. February 2013
Gould, M.J., J.W. Cain III, G.W. Roemer, W.R. Gould, and S.G. Liley. 2014. Estimating the abundance and density of American black bears (Ursus americanus) in New Mexico using non-invasive genetic analysis. 47th Joint Annual Meeting of the Arizona/New Mexico Chapters of The Wildlife Society, Pinetop, Arizona, New Mexico, USA. February 2014
Gould, M.J., J.W. Cain III, G.W. Roemer, W.R. Gould, and S.G. Liley. 2014. Estimating the abundance and density of black bears in New Mexico using non-invasive genetic analysis. The Wildlife Society Annual Conference, Pittsburg, PA. October 2014
Gould, M.J., J.W. Cain III, G.W. Roemer, and W.R. Gould. 2015. Estimating abundance and density of American black bears (Ursus americanus) in New Mexico using noninvasive genetic sampling-based capture-recapture methods. 48th Joint Annual Meeting of the Arizona/New Mexico Chapters of The Wildlife Society, Las Cruces, New Mexico, USA. February 2015
Gould, M.J., J.W. Cain III, G.W. Roemer, W.R. Gould, and S.G. Liley. 2015. Estimating density of American black bears in New Mexico, United States of America. 5th International Wildlife Management Congress, Sapporo, Japan. July 2015
Theses and Dissertations Publication Date
Gould, M.J.2019. Using genetic based methods to monitor American black bear populations in the American southwest. Ph.D. Dissertation. Department of Biology, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces. May 2019