Free App Lets Citizens Help Monitor Bears

If you’ve seen a bear or sign of a bear, such as tracks, scat, or fur, Cornell University wants to know about it. Cornell has developed a free app for citizen scientists to input data on bear sightings. The information will enable scientists to monitor the growing bear population in New York State. Cornell issued the following news release on August 3.

See a bear? New iSeeMammals app lets citizen scientists track expanding populations

ITHACA, N.Y. – Black bear populations are on the rise in New York state, and Cornell University researchers are combining digital technology with on-the-ground conservation efforts to better manage the growing numbers of the animals in the state.

Catherine Sun, a doctoral student in the Department of Natural Resources, working with Angela Fuller, associate professor of natural resources and leader of the New York Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, led the development of the iSeeMammals app, which enables users to collect and submit information about bear sightings or any signs – such as tracks, scat, hair or markings – that indicate the presence, or even absence, of bears. Users can submit information from one-time observations, hikes and trail cameras.

Sun and Fuller are using the data to gain a clearer sense of black bear population size and how that distribution relates to different land-cover patterns, such as agriculture, forest and human communities. The project is giving hikers, hunters, naturalists and anyone with a smartphone or internet access the opportunity to contribute to Cornell research.

“New York’s black bear population is growing, and that has meant more intense and frequent interactions as human and bear populations increasingly nudge against one another,” Sun said. “Sightings, nuisance complaints, property damage, road kill – these kinds of interactions are up, so it’s critical that we have rigorous estimates of how many bears there are and how the population is changing. This will help us anticipate future issues and help the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) continue to develop science-based management strategies.”

A previous study by the research team, funded by NYSDEC, found that black bear populations in a study area in Allegany, Steuben and Livingston counties have not diminished despite increased urban and agricultural development. The research suggests the bears might continue to push into central and northern regions of the state unless management strategies are maintained and adapted, according to Sun.

Data about where bears are – and where they are not – allow conservationists to estimate the probability that the animals will be found in specific areas, and determine how best to manage bears.

“Engaging citizen scientists – that is, nonprofessional scientists or volunteers – provides an opportunity to collect data at a very large spatial extent,” Fuller said. “Traditionally, bear populations are tracked using harvest indices, but they have limited utility because of variable hunter effort and time lags in the response of bear populations to hunting. The iSeeMammals app will allow us to collect data independent of harvest that will contribute to a monitoring and management plan for the population of bears in New York.”

The iSeeMammals is available free via Apple and Android app stores. Hundreds of observations have already been logged through the app and its website, providing the Cornell researchers with data that would have taken years to collect on their own.

“A pillar of the North American model of wildlife management is that wildlife and natural resources are a public trust, so they are managed with the citizens as the beneficiaries. That concept isn’t always communicated very well,” Sun said. “Citizen science engages people with this wildlife management that serves them, so now they can feel more involved and they’re actually part of a project that affects them at a local and statewide scale.”