Is the population increasing, decreasing or remaining stable?
Calculating the intrinsic population growth rate (lambda) requires long-term data collection of a given bear population. The Eastern Slopes Grizzly Bear Project (ESGBP) is aiming for 100 bear years of data, translating into 7 or 8 years of data collection, before calculating lambda. It is expected that this will happen sometime in 2001. (Hererro and Gibeau 1999) The Flathead Bear Study which has been ongoing since the late 1970s has calculated lambda for the regional grizzly bear population. Their results showed a population increase rate for the period 1979 1994 of 1.085.026. (Hovey and McLellan 1996) Because studies are often constrained by a lack of baseline data from the past and by short timelines, determining scientifically defensible population trends is not always possible. However, combined evidence from a variety of other data can sometimes suggest with fair confidence, the general population trends. In their report Grizzly Bear Population and Habitat Status in Banff National
