Living with Giants

 

Spirit, the first Montana grizzly bear to be rescued by the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center in West Yellowstone, was sent to the center when she continued to find food at human occupied places. Efforts to relocate her just resulted in her coming back to the same places for food again.

Last month Idaho Fish and Game were forced to put down a mom and her 2 yearlings who became aggressive toward humans around their food. Unfortunately, due to an increase in the number of people visiting and moving to Island Park this may become a new reality if individuals don't do more to keep bears away.

    Randy Gravatt, facility manager at the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center in West Yellowstone, has lived in Island Park for almost three decades and worked at the center for 23 years. Gravatt has helped with the program that uses the bears to test garbage cans and other items for bear safety. Before using live bears, items used to be tested by machines. 

    One of the greatest dangers and reasons for bear human contact in the area remains easy food left out for bears near homes and places people camp. Once a bear discovers an easy food source it will come back to that area again and again.

    "The problem is when they become unafraid of us," Gravatt said. "Perhaps we surprise them a mom with her cubs or a bear on a food source. Just a single swat, a single bite from a bear can cause quite a bit of injury. It could potentially become predatory against a pet or a child and it doesn't take much."

    Some people leave bird seed or cat or dog food out on porches either not thinking about it or to purposefully get a look at a bear. But when the bear comes back and knocks down their shed door to get to the bag of bird seed or dog food the person becomes upset and it becomes a real problem.

    "People don't understand that's literally how smart bears are," Gravatt said. "They're watching. They're learning where did the human get that food source."

    Some things that are very important to always do in bear country include always securing food, keeping bbq grills cleaned and never leaving unsecured coolers outside. 

    If caught early enough Idaho Fish and Game can use deterrent methods to hopefully make a bear decide not to come back to a residence again its found easy food at in the past. Some of these can include shooting the bear with bean bags or rubber bullets. 

    "It does work but it only tends to work if its fairly early on because once a bear receives more and more food its like you know a little sting from a bean bag is worth getting all that food," Gravatt said.

    In addition to conditioning bears to hang out around humans more and more leaving garbage out where a bear can get into it can have other deadly consequences as well. The bear eats not only food found in the trash but also the plastic and aluminum foil and other things found in garbage cans. 

    "They are eating all these things that are bad for their system where we would never know how injured or how ill a bear can get. It could possibly kill them out in the forest where their stomach gets all bound up," Gravatt said.

    There's no doubt that the decisions of humans either visiting or living in Island Park the surrounding areas ultimately make life or death choices for some of these awe inspiring creatures who were here long before humans. 

    "We can live with them," Gravatt said. "We just have to respect them and give them their space and be bear safe with our food."

    Gravatt said he is always happy to look at trash cans to see if they are bear safe or need a newer one. He said even if a can was bear safe at one point eventually they become old and a bear can get into them.