Yellowstone Wildlife Conservation: Save the Bears

Yellowstone National Park is famous for its black bears and grizzly bears; guests travel from all over the world in hopes of catching a glimpse of one of those beautiful animals. However, the park’s bear population hasn’t always been as healthy and free as it is now. Yellowstone has travelled a long, hard road to achieve their goals of conservation.

A Dangerous Past

In its first century of operation, the main activities for Yellowstone visitors were to see and interact with bears nearly uninhibited. The bears lost many of their wild survival skills and learned to eat the easiest food available: human trash in the Yellowstone hotel dumpsters. By 1910, people could feed the wildlife of Yellowstone, including bears, right from their cars. While this might sound like an incredible experience, it wasn’t a healthy arrangement for the bears or the humans. The first confirmed bear-caused human death occurred in 1916, and for years bear-inflicted injuries and property damage remained at an all-time high.

Times Change

Finally in the 1960’s Yellowstone implemented a new bear management program, aimed at reducing bear-human interactions and returning bears to their natural, wild state. The management measures prohibited guests from feeding bears and educated them on Yellowstone wildlife and proper food storage. By the 70’s the park eliminated open-pit garbage dumps and grizzly bears were listed as a “threatened” species according to the Endangered Species Act. Then a new bear management program was introduced in 1983 that protected backcountry habitats, established bear management areas, and minimized human-bear interaction—this program is still in use at Yellowstone today.

How You Can Help

Thanks to the park’s wildlife conservation efforts over the last century, the bear population is thriving in the Yellowstone area. But it will only stay that way with your help. Whenever you visit Yellowstone, stay a safe distance away from all wildlife and keep your food and trash to yourself. Those two rules alone will prevent countless problems for you and the animals.
But that doesn’t mean you can’t see or feed a bear during your Yellowstone vacation. That’s what Yellowstone Bear World is all about. With our amazing list of attractions, from bottle-feeding bear cubs to amusement rides, you’ll never run out of activities near Yellowstone. You can enjoy untouched wilderness and bear conservation while still getting some up-close-and-personal time with the wildlife. Book your trip to Yellowstone Bear World today.