Is diversionary feeding of wild bears helpful or not

Discovery News' Larry O'Hanlon questions whether diversionary feeding of wild bears is good or bad.

All home break-ins, tent raids and many other bear incidents are by bears who are suffering from forests damaged by fires, drought or other factors that have reduced their food supply, said Montana bear biologist Lynn Rogers of the Wildlife Research Institute in Minnesota. This intensifies when bears enter their "hyperphagic," heavy eating stage in the fall, before hibernation.

"It's food that they are after," explains U.S. Geological Survey biologist Chuck Schwartz, who is the leader of the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team. He said the same applies to all bears, from grizzlies to black bears.

"These bears are in this state when they need this food to make it through the winter."

So why not scatter leftover orchard fruit in the woods for bears to forage on? Well for one thing, such "diversionary feeding" can be against the law. That was the case at Lake Tahoe, Calif., where the Bear League tried it a few years ago and claim they saw an immediate halt to bear break-ins.

Read the full story: Should we feed wild bears?

Photo from iStock via Discovery News

Be "bear aware" when visiting Glacier NP

National Parks Traveler reports that Glacier National Park officials are telling visitors to be more aware of bears.

Two bear cubs were hit and killed by vehicles and several campers and hikers have encountered bears this year.

One [of the bear cubs] was killed by a driver who immediately reported the incident. The other was found dead and had suffered injuries consist with being hit by a vehicle. Drivers are reminded to obey the park speed limits and drive with due regard for bears and other wildlife that may be on or near the roads.

Hikers and backpackers are particularly at risk of encountering bears under potentially dangerous circumstances. To minimize the risk of injury or death (and lethal consequences for the problem bears involved), all trail users are urged to heed the rules and guidelines pertaining to hiking and camping in bear country.

Read the full story: Glacier National Park Officials urge visitors to be "bear aware"

Photo from National Parks Service

Yellowstone grizzly bear mauling investigation

National Parks Traveler reports on the investigation into the death of the man mauled by a grizzly bear in Yellowstone National Park.

Erwin Frank Evert, a 70-year-old botanist, knowingly entered an area last week that warned people to stay away from a recently radio-collared grizzly bear. Evert was mauled by the bear and investigators are now trying to piece together the events.

“In 33 years or so of trapping in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem we’ve never had this situation before,” an understandably somber Chuck Schwartz, team leader of the state-federal bear study team, said Monday.

According to Chris Servheen, the long-time Grizzly Bear Recovery Coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the field biologists in this incident stayed with the 430-pound grizzly [after it was anesthetized and collared] until it began to stir, then left the area. About the same time, Mr. Evert was heading up the drainage that climbs into the Absaroka Mountains just about 7 miles east of Yellowstone.

“I cannot remember another incident where a grizzly bear that’s been handled has killed a person, recently after being handled," Dr. Servheen said Monday. "And we have captured thousands of grizzly bears and black bears using these same techniques. This is the first time its ever happened.”

The grizzly bear's new radio collar subsequently led wildlife agents to its location on Saturday where they shot and killed it from a helicopter.

Read the full story: Investigation launched into Yellowstone grizzly bear mauling

Photo from USGS

Guns vs grizzly bears - new federal law allows guns in national parks

The AP via USA Today reports on a new federal law that allows people to carry guns into national parks.

The law was focused on Second Amendment rights to bear arms as opposed to warding off attacking grizzly bears.

Proponents claim that the guns will help protect them against the advent of a bear attack. Park service biologists claim that guns and grizzlies together equal dead grizzlies and that less deadly methods to ward of bears should be used. Other park service workers say that only time will tell about the consequences of the new law.

Grizzlies are the undisputed bosses of the backcountry in [Grand Teton, Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks]. They've killed 10 people in Glacier and five in Yellowstone in the past century. Those parks average one grizzly attack with injuries a year. Grand Teton has had only a handful of attacks, and no deaths, but it's only had substantial numbers of grizzlies for the past decade or so.

Wyoming, Idaho and Montana are home to roughly 1,300 grizzlies. Their numbers have rebounded since the 1970s and, although grizzlies still are listed as a threatened species, it's no longer rare for one lolling roadside to jam up tourist traffic in Grand Teton, Yellowstone or Glacier.

Park rangers in [the three parks] are still telling visitors that a pressurized can of hot-pepper oil — bear spray — is their best defense.

Their reasoning? Studies show that in most cases, putting a cloud of bear spray in a grizzly's face works better than trying to stop a moving 400-pound animal with a perfectly placed bullet.

"You've got to be a really good shot with a gun," said Yellowstone bear biologist Kerry Gunther. "That's the beauty of bear spray. You don't really have to aim it. All you have to do is pull it and pull the trigger."

Read the full story: New law pits guns against grizzlies in national parks

Photo by David Grubbs / AP

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

Grizzly Bears endangered again

Environmental News Network reports that Grizzly Bears in Yellowstone National Park are back on the endangered species list.

According to the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) a Montana federal district court returned the bears to the protections under the Endangered Species Act on Tuesday September 22.

In the case, brought by the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, Judge Donald Molloy ruled that inadequate regulatory mechanisms were put in place to manage the bears after federal protections were dropped in early 2007, and that U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) failed to address the loss of an essential food source for the bears, whitebark pine seeds. The NRDC and six other groups, represented by Earthjustice, have a similar case pending in Idaho.

Read the full story: Yellowstone Grizzlies back on endangered species list

Photo from National Park Travel, Inc.