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Arising out of fieldwork in the Canadian Rockies, this paper analyzes the role of bears in the conservation culture of Canadian national parks. Why is the presence of this large predator tolerated and even celebrated by some? And why do others fear and even despise this animal, whom they see as a danger and a menace, and resent its continued preservation? Bears may act as a token charismatic species in conservation mythology; they may be anthropomorphized into a cuddly roadside attraction evoking childhood nostalgia; or they may play the part of wrathful Nature guarding against human incursion into the wilderness. Tourists in Banff National Park take great pains to see bears, while local hikers and campers expend almost equal energy avoiding an ursine encounter. This paper explores what human reactions to bears reveal about social attitudes toward the natural world, particularly in areas like the Canadian Rockies where human and bear territory overlap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1. Elevational gradients create environmental variation that is hypothesized to promote variation in life-history strategies. We tested whether differences in life-history strategies were associated with elevation in a songbird, the dark-eyed junco ( Junco hyemalis; Aves; A.O.U. 1998 ). 2. We monitored birds in four replicated sites per elevation, at 2000 m a.s.l. (high elevation) and 1000 m a.s.l. (low elevation), in the Rocky Mountains of Canada. 3. Over 5 years, we measured the following traits and vital rates: egg-laying schedules, morphological indicators of reproductive stage, seasonal reproductive success, indicators of competitive class (age, size, arrival time), and survival rates. 4. We found two main patterns: with an increase in breeding elevation, dark-eyed juncos delayed the development of structures necessary for reproduction (e.g. cloacal protuberance in males) and reduced the duration of their reproductive period to less than half of the time used by low-elevation birds; and 5. Juncos at high-elevation sites had 55–61% lower annual reproductive success and 15 to 20% higher survival rates. While adult juncos at high elevations produced fewer offspring, those offspring were in better condition. Proportions of age and size classes in high- compared to low-elevation populations were similar, suggesting that a life-history trade-off is present, rather than competition forcing inferior competitors to breed in a peripheral habitat. The apparent trade-off between reproduction and survival corresponded to a shorter period of favourable weather and available food in high- compared to low-elevation habitats. 6. Thus, elevation had a strong influence on life-history characteristics of a single species over a short spatial distance, suggesting a shift in life history from a high reproductive strategy at lower elevations to a high survivor strategy at high elevations. 7. This is the first paper to show a shift in avian life-history strategies along an elevational gradient (in both genders, of multiple age classes) when region (latitude) and phylogenetic histories are controlled for. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]