PROFILE BEAR

The mating season is between May and July. During this period males often fight. Males and females usually mate with several partners. The average litter consists of two cubs, which can be from different fathers. Embryonic development pauses shortly after fertilization and delayed implantation of the embryos takes place in late November/early December. The effective gestation period occurs during the hibernation period and lasts about two months. Birth takes place in January-February in the den. A litter is composed of 2 to 3 blind and grey-haired young that weigh only about 200 to 300 grams. The female, who does not eat at all during hibernation, nurses its young with highly nutritious milk and the cubs weigh already around 5 to 6 kg when they leave the den for the first time in April – May. The young then come out of the den and are already able to travel long distances with the mother, staying with her 1.5 to 2.5 years as they learn actively from her. Consequently, a female bear can give birth every two years at most.

In prehistoric times the brown bear was present throughout the country. Around the year 1500 people began to heavily and continuously populate the central plateau resulting in widespread deforestation and therefore the disappearance of the brown bear from this area. The last bears in the northern Alps were killed between 1800 and 1850 and the Jura population also disappeared around this time. The species survived only in the Grisons and the Ticino Alps. With the invention of modern rifles, the number of bear kills soared once more and by the beginning of the 20th Century the species was only present in a small area of the Lower Engadine in southeastern Switzerland, and in the Val Müstair and Val dal Spöl regions. In 1904 the last bear was shot on Swiss territory. The last visual observation dates from 1923. Soon after the eradication of the brown bear, discussions began about enabling its return to Switzerland. Potentially suitable habitat exists in the Ticino and Grisons Alps. This region is connected to the richly forested alpine areas of northern Italy from which brown bears can migrate naturally. From 1999–2002, a reintroduction project was carried out in the Italian Trentino, only about 50 km away from the Swiss National Park. The success of this project had increased the probability of a natural re-immigration of brown bears into Switzerland. In July 2005, the first bear was seen in the Lower Engadine, after more than 100 years of absence. Since then, brown bears come over from Italy almost every year.

The back of a postcard (see figure) contains a detailed account of the meeting:

“It was early October 1904, when a double sentry at Punt Purif (Spöl) saw a large bear. It came west through the scree down Punt Purif and approached the guard to about 100 meters. The soldiers clearly saw the large head and the large paws. Also from its gait, they recognized the animal as a bear. One of the soldiers then gave off two warning shots, whereupon the bear ran away in giant leaps. When I heard about that story, I immediately went to Punt Purif and found the track it left in the soft ground of the forest on the left shore of the Spöl. Zernez, December 29, 1914 Lieut. Adank, Bat 92, 2nd Company – Member of the Swiss Association for Nature protection.” © Archives SNP Zernez