Yellowstone Bear Encounter Prompts Warning

Above, a North American black bear. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Hibernation time is over for Yellowstone bears and already people encountering them.

A recent encounter has prompted Yellowstone National Park officials to issue a warning. The following article has some tips in case of an encounter.

According to East Idaho News:

WEST YELLOWSTONE, Montana – After a tourist’s recent encounter with a bear in Yellowstone National Park, park officials want to make sure park visitors know what to do if they find themselves in a similar situation.

Linda Veress, a spokesperson for Yellowstone National Park, tells EastIdahoNews.com a bear stood and put its paws on a vehicle in the Tower-Roosevelt area last Saturday. Veress says it’s important for drivers to try and prevent this behavior. 

“The best thing to do is discourage a bear from approaching the vehicle. Never feed the bear or throw food out of the car toward the bear,” Veress says. 

If you see a bear approaching your vehicle, immediately roll up your window, honk your horn and drive away. 

A similar incident occurred in May last year. A black bear previously fed by people in the Mammoth Hot Springs area approached a vehicle, put its paws on a door and looked into the vehicle’s windows. The same month, a grizzly bear near Yellowstone Lake went up to a car and played with its antenna. 

Bears that grow accustomed to people and view humans as a food source can become aggressive and have to be killed, Veress says.

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