The area’s bears are retiring for the winter after providing Jackson’s large carnivore biologists with a very busy season managing bear-human conflicts.
According to Spokesman Mark Gocke of Wyoming Game and Fish, the bear calls came early and often this year, starting soon after the bears came out of hibernation. True to form, Gocke says the calls of bears in residential areas continued to get more numerous through the summer and fall, right up until bears headed for their winter dens.
In the Jackson area, most calls involve black bears getting into garbage, although biologists say incidents with grizzly bears are increasing, particularly along the Snake River corridor south of Grand Teton National Park. Even with a county requirement for bear-resistant garbage cans in high conflict areas, which has helped, Gocke says Game and Fish biologists responded to calls daily, especially since the local berry crop was lacking.
This year, Game and Fish had to capture 20 bears, relocating over half of them, but some returned and continued conflict behavior resulting in 11 black bears having to be euthanized. Gocke points out these numbers were above average.
photo: nps
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