Pepperwood, Sonoma County Regional Parks, and Land Trust of Napa County are supporting a CDFW-led bear collaring project in our region. They’re using collaring methods to study black bear behaviors, movements, and habitat use as a population. Because of Pepperwood’s wildlife camera monitoring and black bear scat sampling (and associated DNA work), the Preserve is considered a locally important area for bears. CDFW Wildlife Biologist, Stacy Martinelli aimed to collar at least two healthy adult bears at Pepperwood, one sow and one boar. The collars stay on for about two and a half years.

Collaring Pepperwood’s Bear Representatives

The first bear to be collared at Pepperwood was tagged in early September, a 270 lb boar. Finally, in November, we collared an adult female, weighing in at a whopping 397lbs. She was not pregnant at the time – we asked. We were all surprised by how big she was. The CDFW team that collared her informed us that she’s the largest sow they’ve seen in California. They were able to fit her with a collar and release her.

Pepperwood’s team considers this work to be important, and have consented to the project being carried out on the Preserve.

The first goal of this project is to estimate survival rates of male and female bears, and to identify causes of mortality while estimating their home ranges in the North Bay. Another goal is to identify habitat use and common road crossings. This project will also help to identify typical den sites and estimate cub survival rates. Data collected from the collars will contribute to our understanding of California’s black bear population. It will drive future black bear conservation planning and efforts statewide.

“Based on the results of previous bear fecal DNA work and Pepperwood’s camera trapping, Pepperwood appears to support a relatively high density of bears. The reason for this is largely unknown, or at least has not been elucidated and fully described. If we can identify why Pepperwood and other local lands with high bear densities are important for bears, then we can share this message to other landowners as well as focus conservation efforts on acquiring lands for protection with similar attributes.”

– Stacy Martinelli, Unit Wildlife Biologist, Napa & Sonoma Counties, Wildlife and Lands Management Program, California Department of Fish and Wildlife