Research News Scientists snare bear hair for DNA analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Art by Steve Oliver. But an effective one. In the root of each collected hair is enough DNA for geneticists to identify species, individuals and sex. Biologists are using this data to estimate population size, distribution and genetic variation, all indications of a population's health.
Scientists analyze bear hair follicles using six markers to determine species, sex, and individuals.
The larger challenge is getting the hair, which isn't as easy as it might sound. Grizzly bears weigh 300 to 800 pounds depending on their sex and the time of year. They are solitary, elusive creatures that, in the western United States and Canada, reside in dense forests. Biologists have sedated and collared them, drawn blood samples, flown overhead to count them and even positioned cameras with trip lines to capture them on film, without much success. In 1995, undergraduate student Michael Proctor tromped through the mountains of British Columbia, Canada following black bears until he developed a procedure for collecting their hair.