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The Effects Of Roads On Space Use And Movements Of Black Bears In Eastern Kentucky, Rebekah A. Jensen

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

Kentucky, USA, is the site of recent natural recolonization by the American black bear (Ursus americanus); however, bears are rarely observed outside the Cumberland Mountains along the state‘s southeastern border. I examined the influence of roads in constraining the distribution of this population by altering animal space use and movement. I identified patterns of road avoidance and road crossing using data from Global Positioning System collars worn by 28 adult bears (16M, 12F), and described road mortality trends using 27 roadkill events. Bears avoided roads at the home range and landscape scale, primarily crossed low-traffic roads, and crossed …