Viewing an iconic animal in an iconic national park: bears and people in Yellowstone
Taylor PA, Gunther KA, Grandjean BD. 2014. Viewing an iconic animal in an iconic national park: bears and people in Yellowstone. The George Wright Forum. 31(3):300-310
This special issue discusses issues facing some of the world’s most iconic protected areas. Managers of such areas confront a complex challenge to preserve the features that draw visitors in great numbers, while seeking to enhance the overall visitor experience. Yet managers must also attend to protecting those very features, and the visitors themselves, from the sometimes ill-informed or ill-considered choices people might make when interacting with nature. Our focus in this paper is mainly on human–bear encounters, but in the context of human–animal encounters more generally. We briefly overview relevant bear management and visitor safety programs in Yellowstone, and then present results from a survey conducted at roadside “animal jams” in YNP in the summer of 2013.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Taylor, Patricia; Gunther, Kerry; Grandjean, Burke
- Units
- YELL
- Keywords
- animal jams, bear jams, bear management, black bear, grizzly bear
- Subjects
- Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Mammals , Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | At-risk Biota | T&E Species and Communities , Ecological Framework: Human Use | Visitor and Recreation Use | Visitor Use