Stable isotope signatures and locations of Grizzly Bears (Ursus arctos) in British Columbia

As a part of Van Elslander et al. 2026, we analyzed the stable isotope ratios of carbon and nitrogen in over 2500 guard hairs from 1804 grizzly bears (1059 males, 729 females, 16 sex unidentified) sampled from across B.C. Approximately 900 of these hairs were shared by other researchers who wish to keep their data private. The remaining 1621 samples are included here. 593 bears were analyzed specifically for this study at the University of Ottawa Ján Veizer Stable Isotope Laboratory.

Samples from 567 bears from this study were collected as a part of B.C.’s Compulsory Inspection database, while the remaining 68 were collected as a part of DNA-based population inventories. The remaining data were provided by other researchers and had been previously analyzed for carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios. Most of these data were collected using non-invasive hair sampling and identified to sex and individual using genetic techniques.