During spring 2005 our crew caught, radio-marked, and translocated 7 adult females and 15 cubs. Initially, we located previously radio-collared bears (potential candidates) in winter tree dens on the Tensas National Wildlife Refuge, in northeastern Louisiana using radio-telemetry from the ground (primarily with ATVs) and from small, fixed-wing aircraft. Next, my technician and I climbed den trees (most typically, huge bald-cypress trees in swamps) using harnesses, ascenders, and climbing rope, to determine if females had cubs. In mid-March we again climbed den trees, anesthetized females in dens by free-darting them with a CO2-charged Pneu-dart rifle, harnessed bears to a pulley-system, and removed them from trees. Bears were relocated to the Three Rivers Wildlife Management Area in east-central Louisiana and placed in artificial den boxes and intensively radio-tracked. "When we c
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