FRESNO, Calif. — Rangers at Yosemite National Park are in a constant battle to keep wild black bears — with their ultra-keen noses and powerful paws and jaws — far away from humans.
For the past 16 years, park rangers have done their best to warn visitors about the perils of leaving food in their cars, which a bear can easily peel open for a quick treat. And now a bear-management team has begun outfitting bears with sophisticated Global Positioning System tracking collars to better understand their movements.
Overall, reported bear encounters have plunged by 92 percent since 1998, when the park embarked on a concerted public education campaign.
Despite their long-term progress, park rangers have lost ground in the battle this year.
The instances of bears raiding campgrounds and parking lots for human food are up by 35 percent from Jan. 1 to Oct. 19 compared with the same period last year— the second such increase during the state’s three consecutive dry years. Officials say the heightened bear activity may be partly caused by the drought cutting the supply of berries and other natural bear food.
Ranger Scott Gediman said the recent increase has put rangers on notice. It reminds them to remain vigilant about telling park visitors to stow away food, toothpaste and sunscreen in a safe place. By removing easy access to human food, bears are more inclined to keep their distance, Gediman said.
“We do want people to see bears,” he said. “We want people to see them in their natural environment, not breaking into cars.”
Yosemite, which draws 4 million visitors a year to its trails, granite peaks and waterfalls, is home to about 400 black bears. Throughout California, their population is at about 30,000, and they are increasingly wandering into cities, such as Bakersfield, Monterey and San Luis Obispo, said Marc Kenyon, a senior environmental scientist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Kenyon advises residents in such communities to keep food out of reach because once bears find a source, they will return.
Officials in Yosemite learned that lesson the hard way.
Through the 1950s, park rangers fed bears treats to entertain visitors. The incidents of destruction peaked by the 1990s, when images of bears roaming campgrounds in search of a meal made national news.
