Bear management in Yellowstone National Park, 1960-93

From 1931 through 1959, an average of 48 people per year was injured by bears within Yellowstone National Park (YNP). In 1960, YNP implemented a bear management program designed to reduce the number of bear-caused human injuries and property damages occurring with YNP and to re-establish bears in a natural state. Although the 1960 program included some efforts to reduce the human food and garbage souces that were attracting bears into developed areas and roadside corridors, most management effort went into the removal of potentially hazardous bears and those bears that damaged property in search of human foods. After 10 years (1960-1969) of the program, 332 nuisance black bears (Usrus americanus) and 39 nuisance grizzly bears (Ursus arctos horribilis) had been removed from the population. However, the number of bear-caused human injuries within YNP had decreased only slightly, to an average of 45 per year. In 1970, YPN initiated a new, more intensive bear management program with the objectives of restoring the grizzly bear and black bear populations to subsistence on natural forage and reducing the number of bear-caused injuries to humans. Management involved eliminating the sources of human food and garbage that attracted bears into developed areas and along roadsides, the source of most bear-human conflicts. During the first 3 years of the program, bear-caused human injuries decreased significantly to an average of 10 per year. During the same period, an average of 38 grizzly bears and 23 black bears per year were trapped and translocated from roadsides and developed areas to backcountry areas. In addition, an average of 12 grizzly bears and 6 black bears per year, were removed from the population. After 1972, the number of bear-human conflicts as well as the number of bear management control actions declined significantly. A modified bear management program similar to the 1970 program, but with greater emphasis on habitat protection in backcountry areas, was implemented in 1983. Since 1983, bear-caused human injuries have declined to an average of 1 per year and the number of nuisance bears translocated (grizzly bears = 4/yr, black bears = 2/yr) as well as the number of incorrigible bears removed from the population (grizzly bears = 1/yr, black bears = 0.4/yr) has also declined significantly from earlier periods. During the first years of these management programs, most bear-human conflicts involved food-conditioned bears that aggressively sought human foods. In more recent years, management problems have involved habituated (but not food-conditioned) bears seeking natural foods within developed areas and along roadsides.