Yellowstone National Park is reporting the first sighting of a grizzly bear this spring. On Saturday, March 13th, a pilot supporting park wildlife studies saw the bear from the air. The pilot watched the bear interact with wolves at a carcass in the northern part of the park.
While this is the first sighting of a grizzly bear in the park this year, tracks have been seen on several occasions in the last two weeks.
Male grizzlies come out of hibernation in early March. Females with cubs emerge in April and early May. When bears emerge from hibernation, they look for food and often feed on elk and bison that died over the winter. Sometimes, bears will react aggressively while feeding on carcasses.
The first bear sighting of 2020 occurred on March 7. While there are very few visitors in the park this time of year, the park urges the public to be bear aware in their travels.
NPSAdams photo
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