Bears waking up at Yellowstone
Posted: Feb 26, 2010 1:39 PM
Updated: Mar 4, 2010 11:35 AM
YELLOWSTONE PARK - Bears in Yellowstone National Park are waking up and starting to emerge from their dens, the park announced in news release Friday.
Grizzly bear tracks were spotted in the Blacktail Deer Plateau area east of Mammoth Hot Springs on Friday, Feb. 19, the park said.
"Soon after emerging from their dens, bears begin looking for food. Bears are attracted to elk and bison that have died over the winter. Elk and bison are such a prized source of food that bears will aggressively defend these carcasses. Anyone disturbing a bear feeding on a carcass puts themselves at serious risk for injury," the park said.
Yellowstone reminds people that regulations require staying 100 yards from black and grizzly bears
at all times. The best defense is to remain a safe distance from bears and use binoculars, telescope, or telephoto lens to get a closer look, the park said.
"Hikers, snowshoers, and cross-country skiers are encouraged to travel in groups of three or more, make noise on the trail, and keep an eye out for bears. Bear pepper spray has proven to be a good last line of defense if you keep it handy and use it according to directions when the bear is within 30 to 40 feet. While firearms are allowed in the park, discharge of a firearm is a violation of park regulations. Even the park's law enforcement rangers who carry firearms on duty rely on pepper spray, and not their weapons, as the most effective means to deal with a bear encounter," the news release stated.
Seasonal Bear Management Area closures are designed to reduce encounters
with bears in
Seasonal Bear Management areas, places that have a high density of elk and bison carcasses and provide areas where bears can roam free from human disturbance, are designed to reduce bear-human encounters. Those areas include Firehole Lake Drive, which will be closed from Wednesday, March 10 through June 15; and the Blacktail area south of the road between Mammoth Hot Springs and Tower Junction, which will be closed from March 10 through June 30.
Click here for dates and locations of bear closures.
The park also reminds visitors to keep food, garbage, barbecue grills and other attractants stored in hard-sided vehicles or bear-proof food storage boxes. This helps keep bears from becoming conditioned to human foods, and helps keep park visitors and their property safe.
The park also asks people to report bear sightings to the nearest visitor center or ranger
station as soon as possible.
