Brown bear traveled 1033 kilometers in 141 days

KARS

A brown bear named Arkadaş, which means “friend” in Turkish, which has been tracked through a satellite system that was attached to it in the Sarıkamış district of the eastern province of Kars, traveled 1033 kilometers in 141 days to find food and reproduce, according to an expert at Kuzeydoğa Association.

The brown bears, mostly living in the Scots pine forests and migrate to other places in June and July every year to find food and reproduce.

They are the only migratory bears in the world, and the ones in Turkey go to the Black Sea region in summer. During this migration phase, they are tracked by satellite transmitters, and their return routes are followed.

Speaking to the state-run Anadolu Agency, Kuzeydoğa Association Scientific Coordinator Emrah Çoban said that their previous scientific studies had revealed that the brown bears in the eastern Anatolian region were the only migratory species.

Stating that they obtained interesting data in the studies, Çoban said: “As KuzeyDoğa Association, we found out that a female brown bear, weighing 86 kilograms, reached Ardanuç district in the Black Sea region by taking 10,000 steps a day in 141 days and traveled 1,033 kilometers in total. In other words, it walked 7.8 kilometers a day, which is equivalent to 10,000 steps.”

Stating that they are continuing to investigate why brown bears migrate from the Sarıkamış district, Çoban said that they were trying to understand the reasons for migration by examining their habitats.

He said that the Black Sea forests have richer vegetation than Sarıkamış forests, which might be one of the reasons for bears migrating to that region.

“We once again revealed the importance of the first study on Turkey’s wildlife corridor, which we are carrying out with the Nature Protection and National Parks General Directorate. The faster this forest consolidation work is completed, the better we will ensure the safety of not only brown bears but also migrating animals,” he added.

Stating that they named the 5-year-old female brown bear that they followed with the satellite tracker as Arkadaş because of her friendly attitude, Çoban said, “Arkadaş is right now far from us and in a different climate. She is in the Black Sea region. The weather there is relatively hot, and she is still looking for food. According to the latest satellite data, she has not gone into hibernation yet.”