Sacred protectors: Diné biologist bridges culture, science to study black bears
Courtesy | Deandra Jones
National Geographic Explorer Deandra Jones collects a black bear hair sample at a barbed-wire collection site in the Chuska Mountains.
WINDOW ROCK
Deandra Jones wraps barbed wire around trees in the Chuska Mountains, places sardines and glazed doughnuts in the center of a square-shaped collection site, then sprays commercial liquid called Bear Lure that smells sweet and fishy. When black bears arrive to investigate the scents, they brush against the wire and leave behind hair samples containing their DNA.
Jones, a Diné biologist and a National Geographic Explorer, has been studying black bears on tribal lands since 2022. Her five-year project investigates how many bears live within the Navajo Nation’s 27,000 square miles across Arizona, New Mexico and Utah, and how communities can encourage positive interactions between humans and bears as habitats shrink.
To read the full article, please see the Jan. 22, 2026, edition of the Navajo Times.
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