Bears prefer minivans

Los Angeles Times travel blog reports on the study showing that bears at Yosemite National Park prefer to break into minivans more than other types of vehicles.

[The] Journal of Mammalogy study [was] drawn from seven years of park data on bear-related break-ins.

Analyzing reports on 908 Yosemite Valley vehicle break-ins, authors Stewart W. Breck, Nathan Lance and Victoria Seher classified automobiles in nine categories. They found that 26% of the victimized vehicles were minivans.

The authors offer four possible reasons, beginning with one that won’t surprise many parents of small children. Perhaps, the authors say, the black bears like minivans because “minivans are more likely to emit food odors, based on the fact that minivans are designed for families with children, who are more likely to spill food and drink in a vehicle."

Read the full story: Yosemite bears' car of choice

Photo by Gary Kazanjian / Associated Press