Bear activity rises in Grand Teton Park

JACKSON, Wyo. — Increasing bear activity in Grand Teton National Park has prompted park officials to step up efforts to prevent human-bear conflicts and encounters.

Park spokeswoman Jackie Skaggs said last summer there was more bear activity around campgrounds and other areas, including Colter Bay, Signal Mountain and Jenny Lake.

"We had bears that were becoming a little more interested in approaching people than we wanted," she said. A black bear was killed by rangers near Colter Bay after it became increasingly aggressive toward people.

Skaggs said rangers found people were not complying with food storage requirements. Those requirements include never leaving food and backpacks unattended, and storing all food and bear attractants, including sunscreen, canned drinks and toothpaste, in areas where bears cannot reach in campgrounds.

Patrols will be stepped up in campgrounds this year, and violations of food storage orders can result in citations.

In the backcountry, food should be hung from a tree, or backpackers can borrow food-storage containers from ranger stations. Next year, canisters will be required.

Park officials now estimate that at least 50 to 100 grizzly bears inhabit Grand Teton. There's no estimate available on the number of black bears.

"People think of Yellowstone as a grizzly park, and they don't think of them in Grand Teton," Skaggs said.

But protection of the grizzly under the Endangered Species Act has widened their habitat range. Skaggs said park biologists now consider the entire Grand Teton park to be grizzly habitat.

Grizzlies used to be seen almost exclusively in the northern end of the park, near Two Ocean and Emma Matilda lakes, and in the John D. Rockefeller Memorial Parkway. Now, grizzlies have been seen near Spaulding Bay, on the southern end of Jackson Lake, and almost as far south as Teton Village.

One grizzly family has been very visible this year, and park officials are concerned about the bears getting through the summer without becoming too habituated to humans. A mother and three cubs, now yearlings, have been seen near Oxbow Bend, Willow Flats and are now near Colter Bay.

"She's a good mother," Skaggs said. "She's still appropriately wild but habituated to people and traffic."

Park officials are reminding visitors to keep a distance from all bears and advising hikers to carry bear spray and not hike alone. If hiking alone, people should make plenty of noise so as not to surprise bears. Bear spray is available at the visitor centers.

"People need to be aware of their surroundings, and keep alert to sounds and signs of bears," Skaggs said.

Additionally, last year a grizzly bear was killed on a roadway, so drivers need to be cautious about all wildlife on the roads, including bears.