People, Bears in Record Number of US West Clashes
Date: 25-Sep-07
Country: US
Author: Laura Zuckerman
"It's nuts out there," said Kevin Hurley, wildlife
management coordinator with Wyoming Game and Fish.
American black bears, which are exclusive to North America,
dwell in forests from Mexico to Canada. Weighing from 150 to
500 pounds (68 kg to 227 kg), adult bears can have a range of
up to 250 square miles (648 sq km).
They begin hunting for high-calorie foods immediately after
emerging from hibernation in spring and forage for up to 20
hours a day until they enter dens in fall.
Late freezes, drought and tree infestations in the Rocky
Mountain West have diminished the sources of natural food from
bugs to berries the bears eat. Now they are hunting for food in
all the wrong places, from backcountry campgrounds to suburban
kitchens.
In recent days, bear sightings have locked down schools in
Idaho, Montana and Wyoming and emptied neighborhoods as
officials sought to capture or kill them.
BEARS JUST BEING BEARS
In Colorado, bears have burst through the front doors of
homes, sauntered into stores and broken into cars. Officials
say the number of bears killed by state wildlife officers this
year has topped a record 43 killed between January and August
in 2002.
"It's a difficult day here when we decide we have to put
down a bear; it's the last thing we want to have to do," said
Colorado Division of Wildlife's Tyler Baskfield.
Wildlife officers in northwest Wyoming, where luxury
housing is crowding into prime bear habitat, are fielding 100
calls a week about bears feasting in fruit trees and snoozing
on front lawns. Game wardens have killed twice as many bears
this season -- conservatively estimated at 15 -- as they kill
in an average year.
In Montana, hungry bears have plowed through dumpsters and
grabbed garbage from garages, a pattern Montana Fish, Wildlife
and Parks Captain Sam Sheppard says is unusual for its scope,
duration and intensity.
Wildlife officers across Western states have renewed
campaigns to stem bear conflicts by retraining humans.
In Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where a bear recently lumbered
through the open door of a daycare center, officials have
plastered neighborhoods with signs urging residents to harvest
fruit, remove birdfeeders and "bear-proof" their garbage.
"Bears are just being bears," said Mark Bruscino, bear
management program supervisor with Wyoming Game and Fish,
noting that people living near bear country have a social
obligation to take steps to discourage the animals from
foraging in populated areas.