. The Canadian field-naturalist. 420 The Canadian Field-Naturalist Vol. 91 capacity of British Columbia black bears to return to areas from which they have been removed. The study area consists of approximately 922 km-, centered around the City of Nelson (49° N, 117° W), British Columbia. Background and Methods Trapping, immobilizing, and tagging techniques have been described in the literature and by Ruther- glen (1973. The control of problem Black Bears. Wildlife Management Report 11, British Columbia Fish and Wildlife Branch. 26 pp.). Between June 1968 and October bears were tagged
. The Canadian field-naturalist. 420 The Canadian Field-Naturalist Vol. 91 capacity of British Columbia black bears to return to areas from which they have been removed. The study area consists of approximately 922 km-, centered around the City of Nelson (49° N, 117° W), British Columbia. Background and Methods Trapping, immobilizing, and tagging techniques have been described in the literature and by Ruther- glen (1973. The control of problem Black Bears. Wildlife Management Report 11, British Columbia Fish and Wildlife Branch. 26 pp.). Between June 1968 and October bears were tagged. Sex, general condition, visual estimation of age based on tooth characteristics, and approximate weight were re- corded for each bear tagged. Where possible, addi- tional data were recorded on subsequent positive sightings or recaptures. Releases were made from 16 to 112 km from capture locations and 23 different release sites were used. Most release sites provided an abundance of forage for bears and available drinking water. Results and Discussion The 236 bears tagged do not represent a random selection of animals from the Nelson District, but only bears that became problems in association with people. The greatest number of bear "complaints" Table I- -Nature of complaints from public, which lead to handling and tagging of bears Type of complaint 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 Garbage 32 11 19 50 76 39 Farm produce 13 3 6 10 13 9 Slaughter pit* 10 3 — — — Other (or unrecorded) 2 2 — II 4 — Total 57 19 25 71 93 48. aughter pit ' Figure I. Movements of Bear Number 228. were related to garbage (Table 1), particularly in the vicinity of community garbage dumps. Most of the bears appeared to be in good or fair physical condition upon capture. There were con- sistently a larger number of males tagged each year than females and fewer sub-adults than aduhs (Table 2). In similar mountain habitat in northwestern North America, Jonkel and Cowan (1971. The Black Be
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