Grizzlies on the Move Due to Warm Winter

Blame the relatively mild winter weather for the early emergence of bears in the Greater Yellowstone Area.

The first confirmed report of grizzly bear activity in Yellowstone occurred on Monday. A grizzly bear was observed late in the afternoon, scavenging on a bison carcass in the central portion of the park.

With bears emerging from hibernation, hikers, skiers and snowshoers are advised to stay in groups of three or more, make noise on the trail and carry bear spray. The same advice goes for those taking guided snowmobile trips in Yellowstone.

Bears begin looking for food soon after they emerge from their dens. They are attracted to elk and bison that have died during the winter. Carcasses are an important enough food source that bears will sometimes react aggressively when surprised while feeding on them.

Updated bear safety information is available at www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/bearsafety.htm and in the park newspaper distributed at all park entrances.

Yellowstone also implements seasonal bear management area closures to reduce encounters between bears and humans in areas where elk and bison carcasses are in high density. A listing of these closures can be found at www.nps.gov/yell/parkmgmt/bearclosures.htm.

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