Its goals are to estimate bears' food and energy requirements, determine how efficiently bears harvest and use different foods, and develop methods to help assess the nutrition of free-ranging bears. This research includes the development of techniques to measure the body fat content of anesthetized grizzly, polar, and black bears, and measure the milk intake and composition of grizzly and black bear cubs nursed by their mothers. Results and Future Research WSU techniques for measuring body fat content are being used by U.S. and Canadian biologists to relate the condition of free-ranging bears to food resources in various habitats. Chinese scientists use the information about bear's milk to raise orphaned panda bears, and this information is also basic to determining if black bears could serve as surrogate mothers for grizzly cubs. Using wild black bears as surrogate mothers for captive-bred grizzly cubs has been proposed as a way to augment existing or start new grizzly populations.
New research involves determining the rate at which bears eat wild berries.
A large, adult grizzly would need to eat 200,000 to 350,000 huckleberries per day to meet its fall energy requirements. In order to establish healthy bear populations, we must know the bears' eating rate, and the berry density and berry size necessary for bear population survival.