The Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center participates in a variety of non-invasive research projects. Some of the projects the Center has been involved with are highlighted here.
- Researchers endeavoring to learn if bears use low-frequency calls to communicate with each other, as elephants do, ran a series of tests at the Center, using sound level meters and recording devices to detect possible low frequency calls from the Center's bears.
l A University of Montana graduate student conducted a study of visitor perceptions of captive animals
at the Center.
- A researcher studying benefits of wolf kills to other Yellowstone wildlife used the Center's bears to determine how fast a grizzly can consume meat.
- Scat and urine from the Center's bears and wolves were used by a University of Nevada biologist studying moose vulnerability to predators in Jackson Hole.
- Scat from the Center's wolves was also used by Yellowstone National Park's wolf project to test the accuracy of the lab used to analyze wild scat samples from Yellowstone.
- A Montana bear researcher used the Center's bears to evaluate the effectiveness of different blood lures. The most effective lure was later used in a large study in northwestern Montana which snagged bear hair for DNA analysis and population estimation.
- The Center's resident bear, Spirit, provided hair samples which helped the same project investigate the effect of sample age on DNA analysis success.
