Data from: Female American black bears do not alter space use or movements to reduce infanticide risk

Infanticide occurs in a variety of animal species and infanticide risk has
large implications for the evolution of behavior. Further, the sex
hypothesis of sexual segregation predicts that for species in which
infanticide occurs, females with dependent young will avoid males to
reduce risk of sexually-selected infanticide. Infanticide risk-avoidance
behavior has been studied primarily in social species, but also occurs in
some solitary species. We used generalized linear mixed models to
determine if space use and movements of female American black bears (Ursus
americanus) during the breeding season were consistent with the sex
hypothesis of sexual segregation in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, USA.
Space use and movements of female black bears (n = 16) were not consistent
with avoidance behavior to reduce sexually-selected infanticide risk.
Females with cubs occupied core areas (mean = 4.64 km2, standard error
[SE] = 1.28) and home ranges (mean = 19.46 km2, SE = 5.10) of similar size
to females without cubs (core area [mean = 4.11 km2, SE = 0.59]; home
range [mean = 16.07 km2, SE = 2.26]), and those core areas and home ranges
were not in areas with lesser relative probability of male use.
Additionally, females with cubs did not reduce movements during times of
day when male movements were greatest. As female bears do avoid
potentially infanticidal males in populations with greater levels of
infanticide, female black bears may exhibit variation in avoidance
behavior based on the occurrence of infanticide.