The Method of Bounded Counts: When Does It Work?

quired of the number of individuals in a population such as brown bears (Ursus arctos) in a subarctic drainage basin. Repeated independent efforts are made to census the population. In any given census, the observers will not likely detect all individuals. Erickson and Siniff (1963) reported that the proportion of bears observed in aerial surveys of their Alaskan study area rarely exceeded 50% on any given survey. Overton (1971:426), Seber (1973:58), and Giles (1978:44-45), following Regier and Robson (1966), have proposed using the following method of bounded counts to construct an estimate