Hunters Cause Bear Cubs to Spend More Time With Their Mothers

Scientists at Norwegian University have discovered that hunters cause Scandinavian brown bear cubs to spend more time with their mothers, a new study published in Nature Communications reports.

In the past, studies found that, on average, brown bear cubs spent a year and a half with their mothers. However, the new research shows that many cubs are now sticking around for an extra year. That is an extremely recent trend that came about within the last two decades, suggesting it is an odd form of evolution.

Data showed that there has been a 30 percent increase in the number of female bears caring for their young for an extra year. Though that may seem odd, researchers also found that, as many countries do not allow the hunting of bear family groups, female bears are more than four times as likely to be shot if they do not have a cub with them.

The number of bears keeping their cubs around an extra year skyrocketed from 7 percent to 36 percent between 2005 and 2015. In that same period, hunting in Sweden also greatly increased, Tech Times reports.

This new strategy for female bears allows them to have an extra year of protection from hunters, which then gives them safer lives. However, it could also be detrimental to bear populations because female bears with cubs reproduce less. That could then lead to widespread population decline across the species.

Though the team is not sure how the bears will continue to adapt in the coming years, they plan to continue their monitoring. Scandinavian brown bears have been the subject of study since 1984, and the new research furthers such research and helps scientists better understand the large mammals.