Large Carnivore Conservation Lab

The Large Carnivore Conservation Lab

(LCCL) in the Wildlife Program of the Department of Natural Resource Sciences (NRS) at Washington State University (WSU) is an academic research unit that conducts field research on the ecology of large carnivores and their prey.

Our mission is to research and help maintain viable, sustainable, large carnivore populations and predator – prey communities in the US, Canada, and wordwide. We specialize on sensitive, threatened, and endangered large mammals and the ecosystems in which they reside. Some typical species that we study include grizzly bears, black bears, cougars, lynx, and their prey (mountain caribou, mule deer, white-tailed deer, elk, snowshoe hares).

We are a non-profit, non-partisan, wildlife research organization that prides itself on rigorous, scientifically based conservation biology. All of our research is designed for publication in peer-reviewed journals (see completed projects). Our research is strongly quantitative - focusing on effects of anthropogenic disturbance (agriculture, forestry, hunting, etc) on predator and prey population growth & persistence. Our research integrates theoretical and applied population ecology and includes behavioral, habitat, population, and community ecology.

The director of the Lab is Dr. Robert Wielgus – Associate Professor of Wildlife Ecology in the Wildlife Program of NRS at WSU. Grad students and post-docs comprise the other researchers in the lab.

We work closely and collaborate with other faculty in the Wildlife Program at WSU. Other faculty include: Charlie Robbins – nutritional ecology of bears; Lisa Shipley – foraging ecology of ungulates; Rod Sayler – conservation biology & restoration ecology of threatened and endangered species; Mark Swanson – landscape ecology; and Rich Allredge & Mark Evans – statistical ecologists in the Program in Statistics at WSU.

We also collaborate on projects with other researchers at other institutions. Current research collaborators are: Lisette Waits, Associate Professor – conservation genetics, Univ. Idaho; Jean Clobert – Professor of Ecology at the CNRS in Paris France; John Pierce – Senior Wildlife Scientist, WA Dept. Fish & Wildlife; Gary Koehler – Carnivore Research Biologist at WDFW; Donny Martarelo – Carnivore Manager at WDFW; Woody Myers – Ungulate Research Biologist at WDFW; Matt Austin – Large Carnivore Manager at BC Ministry of Environment; Wayne Wakkinen – Grizzly Bear Biologist at IDFG; Wayne Kasworm – Grizzly Bear Biologist at US Fish & Wildlife Service; and John Gwilliam – Wildlife Biologist at Columbia Basin Fish & Wildlife Compensation Program. Past collaborators include Fred Bunnell – Professor of Wildlife at the University of British Columbia.

Major government sponsors of our research include the National Science Foundation (NSF), US DOE Bonneville Power Administration, WA Dept Fish & Wildlife, ID Dept Fish & Game, BC Min Environment, BC Min of Forests, Columbia Basin Fish & Wildlife Compensation Program, US National Parks Service, US Fish & Wildlife Service, US Forest Service, and the French CNRS & Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle. Industrial sponsors include Seattle City Light, Bombardier Inc., and Darkwoods Forestry Ltd. Environmental sponsors include the Selkirk – Priest Basin Assoc. and the World Wildlife Fund (Canada).

Research Programs

Two major current research themes include:

Effects of anthropogenic habitat disturbance (agriculture, forestry) on predator – prey systems (cougars, grizzly bears, lynx, caribou, mule deer, white-tailed deer, elk, snowshoe hares); especially effects on species-specific predation, apparent competition, and community structure.
Effects of anthropogenic population disturbance (hunting) on behavioral & population ecology of carnivores (e.g., grizzly bears, black bears, cougars); especially effects on sexual habitat and prey segregation, sexually selected infanticide, and population persistence.