Pioneering studies of DNA in hair and scat have given scientists new tools for estimating bear population numbers in the park. Barbed wire hair snags were used to collect hair samples from grizzly bears throughout the Crown of the Continent Ecosystem as part of the Northern Divide Grizzly Bear Project. DNA was extracted from from bear hair collected along survey routes and from systematically positioned hair snag stations. This project used this technique in conjunction with statistical models to estimate the number of grizzly bears inhabiting the ecosystem, which includes Glacier National Park. Watch a short video on the grizzly research project.