Two More Dead Bears in Yellowstone

The National Parks Traveler is reporting that two more bears have been killed in Yellowstone National Park. Earlier this year seventeen grizzly bears have been reported to have died in the Yellowstone ecosystem by the National Resources Defense Council Staff Blog, Switchboard. These bears have all died before the start of the hunting season when bears typically die in hunting related incidents.

These last two bears died within Yellowstone National Park. One was a grizzly weighing close to 600 ponds. It was found about 50 yards off of the road, ½ mile south of LeHardy Rapids, North of Fishing Bridge. No cause of death was immediately determined and the carcass was sent to Bozeman, MT for a necropsy.

The second bear was a 79-pound young male black bear. This bear was found on the road south of Fishing Bridge about halfway between Lake and West Thumb. Park rangers suspect the cause of death to be a hit and run. This is the second hit and run bear death in Yellowstone in 2010. Another young grizzly was accidentally killed in a trapping accident.

According to an article in the Los Angeles Times the grizzly bear in the Yellowstone ecosystem is being challenged by the demise of the white bark pine. Pine Beetles are killing the trees at an alarming rate and climate change is accelerating the loss of this vital food source for grizzlies. Earthjustice has warned that every year will be a bad food year for the grizzlies. The bears are forced lower down the mountains and closer to the humans.

Further strain on the grizzly population was created in 2007 when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officially delisted the grizzly from the list of endangered animals. Now individual states manage the grizzly numbers even though the ecosystem crosses state lines.

There are between 400 and 600 grizzly bears and hundreds of the smaller black bears in the Yellowstone ecosystem. With the white pine bark beetle infestation, climate change and encroaching human development into their habitat these bears are struggling to survive. Visitors to Yellowstone want to see these bears; however, those same visitors must respect the bears and their right to be safe.