The project involved hair trapping in an area covering 1400 square kilometres of bear habitat in the far north of Europe, close to the Barents Sea in Norway, Finland and Russia. The area includes the Pasvik-Inari-Trilateral Park and the Vätsäri Wilderness Area Natura 2000 area in Finland.  Motion-triggered wildlife cameras were also set up in several locations. During the 70-day monitoring phase in summer, the project team checked the traps every second week and moved them within the grid square to another location halfway through the period. This monitoring is then repeated every four years.

The monitoring shows that the brown bear population of Pasvik-Inari-Pechenga seems stable and shows high genetic variability. Moreover, A total of 13 new bears were identified in 2015 as compared to 4 in 2011. Two individuals were detected in two countries, and one individual were detected in grids in all three countries. The monitoring and research efforts are being expanded to additional areas in the region (Anarjohka and Troms regions in Norway), which will give a more comprehensive picture on the population. Hair-trapping can lead to a substantial increase in the number of detected bears in a study area. Ultimately, the action increased the amount of information and improved estimates of the number of brown bears, especially in inaccessible, natural areas. This creates a much better basis for wildlife and predator management as foundation for decision making.

Further information about this case study is available here.