Watch baby bears and birds online with these livestreams
SALT LAKE CITY — Do you love wildlife? Do you wish you could watch baby animals at any point in the day? If you answered yes to these questions, we have great news for you: Three livestreams were recently posted that allow you to watch a constant feed of baby bears and several bird species, including sandhill cranes incubating an egg that will hatch in late May.
The two baby bears are being housed at the USDA APHIS Predator Research Facility in Millville, Cache County. These 3-month-old female black bears were orphaned and discovered by Utah Division of Wildlife Resources biologists who were tracking collared bears in southern Utah this spring. They were taken to the Predator Research Facility to be cared for and rehabilitated.
“Bear populations are relatively slow at reproducing and a female doesn’t have cubs every year,” DWR game mammals program coordinator Darren DeBloois said. “So if we can save a couple bears, it really benefits the population overall.”
Bear cubs can be orphaned for a number of reasons including the mother bear being hit and killed by a vehicle or the mother being illegally killed. On average, roughly two to four bear cubs are orphaned and then rehabilitated by biologists each year.
“It is more common in drought years when there is less food,” DeBloois said. “Bear mortality is higher then because bears are having to travel more for food and have a greater risk of being hit by vehicles. Two years ago, we had seven baby bears that we found and had to rehabilitate, last year there weren’t any, and now this year, there are two.”
The baby bears were found when they were 2 months old and weighed only 3 pounds each. They are currently being fed a milk substitute (similar to what puppies are fed) that also has mixed in baby food and oatmeal. The cubs have already tripled their month in just a month. Eventually, the bears will be fed other produce, as well as some fish. Because their diet in nature is primarily vegetarian, the biologists match that during their stay in the facility.
Minimal human contact is made with the bear cubs so that they are more easily able to acclimatize to the wild when it is time to release them. They will be released in October or November when they are almost 11 months old. At that point, they’ll have grown to roughly 130 pounds.
“USDA’s Wildlife Services is pleased to be able to help the state with its black bear rehabilitation efforts,” Julie Young, the USDA Predator Research Facility supervisory research wildlife biologist, said. “The staff have learned a great deal on how to provide the best care and enrichment for the bears while in captivity. We have also been able to conduct research while they are in captivity and will continue to after their release. The studies provide a better understanding of bear behavior and whether human contact at a young age makes bears more likely to become problem animals after they are released back into the wild. This will help wildlife managers develop management strategies for rehabilitated bears.”
When released, the bear cubs will be transported back to where they were found in southern Utah and GPS collars will be placed on them.
“We use GPS tracking for a couple of reasons,” DeBloois said. “We want to know if they survive (historically, baby bears that have been rehabilitated do have a high survival rate.) We also want to learn if they migrate or end up relocating. Females tend to stay in the same areas they were first introduced to, while males typically travel around a bit more.”
The Utah State University College of Natural Resources hosts the livestream of the baby bears on its website and it can be viewed here. The livestream is 24/7, but the webcam doesn’t have night vision so it is difficult to see them in the dark.
You can also watch nesting sandhill cranes at the Swaner Preserve and EcoCenter near Park City. This livestream, also hosted by Utah State University, shows sandhill crane parents who take turns incubating an egg in a peaceful, marshy area of the reserve. The egg is expected to hatch in late May or early June. You can watch the livestream here.
If you need more bird-watching in your life, you can also check out the Friends of Alta livestream. Through a partnership with the DWR, Tracy Aviary, Bird Conservancy of the Rockies and the Alta Environmental Center, this livestream provides valuable information about the types of birds in Little Cottonwood Canyon. The webcam is focused on an area in Alta with several bird feeders, so watchers are likely to see a lot of action. Watch the livestream here.
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Want to rate Utah’s fishing holes? Now you can
SALT LAKE CITY — If you enjoy fishing in Utah’s beautiful outdoors but aren’t quite sure where to fish, now you can easily find out what anglers are saying about each local waterbody.
In late April, the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources launched a new website that offers an in-depth, interactive fishing map. While the DWR has provided online fishing reports for nearly 20 years, this interactive map will provide a lot more details. It includes improved mapping technology, which allows users to find a place to fish near their current location. The new map also gives the public a chance to rate waters based on their recent fishing trips. The public feedback will help the DWR improve the management of the state's fisheries.
Along with allowing anglers to rate the waterbodies, the new page was designed to be a one-stop shop for anyone going fishing: It includes updated forecasts of fishing conditions from the DWR, details on what types of fish are at each waterbody, specific directions to each fishing hole, stocking reports, fishing regulations and the amenities in each area.
“This new fishing map caters to the fact that anglers are diverse, and not all anglers want the same fishing experience,” DWR sportfish coordinator Randy Oplinger said. “Our concern is that some anglers are turned off from fishing when they go to a water and find an experience that doesn’t match their expectations. The new page provides a lot more information about the waterbodies. Hopefully, anglers can use it to better find waters that provide the fishing experience they’re looking for.”
The new fishing web page is also mobile friendly, so it provides a better user experience on smartphones. There is also a new alert feature that informs anglers of important updates like access and ice conditions in an area.
“Fishing is looking really good for this spring,” Oplinger said. “Fishing is currently really good at many of our lower elevation reservoirs that are ice free and will pick up at other reservoirs as the ice melts. The large snowpack will make spring streamflows higher than normal this year, which could create tough stream fishing conditions. However, the streams should have good water levels throughout the summer, so summer fishing should be better than average.”
Because rivers are running high and fast this spring, anglers should be very cautious in and around the water. If going out on the water via a boat or float tube, anglers must have a personal floatation device.
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DWR discontinues translocation in urban deer program to limit spread of Chronic Wasting Disease
SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources has made the decision to discontinue the translocation of urban deer (removing deer from urban areas and relocating them to rangelands). The urban deer program will still continue in an effort to minimize deer/human conflicts, but will be a lethal-removal only program moving forward.
The urban deer program was launched in 2014 as a way to give cities the ability to deal with ever-increasing deer/human conflicts in expanding urban areas. The program gave municipalities two main removal options: lethal removal and non-lethal removal (by capturing and relocating the deer).
“We started a pilot program for translocations and further research because of public request,” DWR wildlife coordinator Mike Wardle said. “The pilot was planned to last until we could establish the full cost and the survival rates compared to the risks associated with relocating deer from cities.”
After weighing the benefits and risks associated with the non-lethal removal option, the DWR has made the decision to discontinue the translocation part of the urban deer program. Research also showed that the translocation efforts didn’t significantly change public feedback regarding conflicts with urban deer.
There are currently five cities enrolled in the non-lethal removal program, and they have been notified that the translocation program is being discontinued.
The reasons for discontinuing the program include:
Preventing the spread of Chronic Wasting Disease
Chronic Wasting Disease is a fatal contagious neurological disease that affects deer, elk and moose. The disease has been spreading throughout many states across the U.S. Currently, the disease has a very low prevalence rate in Utah deer populations compared to neighboring states like Colorado and Wyoming.
The DWR doesn’t want to negatively impact other deer populations across the state by potentially spreading CWD while trying to help with urban deer conflicts.
Negative impacts from other diseases such as exotic lice, which can also be spread through translocation efforts, are also of concern to wildlife biologists.
50% survival rates for relocated deer
A recent DWR study tracked the deer that were removed from urban areas and relocated. It found that about half of the deer did not survive after being relocated. In contrast, the average mule deer adult survival across the West is around 85%.
Rather than having a large portion of the animals die after relocation, lethally removing them allows the meat to be utilized to help people in need.
Providing meat for families in need
Another reason to discontinue the relocation program and use only lethal removal is that the deer meat can be donated to local families in need. This free food would be a great benefit for Utah families. Meat from an area known to have CWD would be tested before being donated.
It costs about $25 to test a deer and between $90 to $120 to process the meat. Part of that cost could be subsidized by the cities where the animal was removed. There are 17 cities enrolled in the lethal removal program, and many of them already have sign-up lists for those interested in receiving the meat donations.
The following cities are involved in the program:
Alpine
American Fork
Centerville
Draper
Fruit Heights
Herriman
Highland
Holladay
Hyde Park
Mapleton
Mendon City
Newton
North Logan
North Ogden
North Salt Lake
Provo
Springville
Residents who are interested in receiving the donated meat should contact their city hall.
