Visitor perceptions of roadside bear viewing and management in Yellowstone National Park

Richardson, Leslie; Gunther, Kerry; Rosen, Tatjana; Schwartz, Chuck

Viewing both grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) and American black bears (Ursus americanus) along roadside habitats has long been a popular recreation activity enjoyed by visitors to Yellowstone National Park (YNP). Both the nature of this activity, as well as the management of bears using park road corridors, have evolved significantly over the last century. For instance, while it was common by the 1920s for black bears to beg for human food on the roadsides (Schullery 1992), large numbers of visitors observing and interacting with human-habituated and food-conditioned bears led to a high incidence of human injuries and property damage from bears through the 1960s (Haroldson and Gunther 2013). This led to an evolution in bear management within YNP, which started somewhat informally from the park’s creation in 1872 through the 1950s, with overly troublesome bears removed as necessary on a case-by-case basis (Gunther 1994). By 1960, a more formal National Park Service bear management program was implemented, aimed at reducing bear-caused human injuries and property damage, and re-establishing bears in a more natural state (National Park Service 1960; Gunther 1994). In 1970 a new, more intensive bear management program was initiated (Leopold et al. 1969). The number of bear–human conflicts within YNP declined significantly in the following years, with a large portion of the decline coming from reduced black bear-caused injuries on roadsides (Gunther 1994). While this outcome was due in part to changes in policies and regulations, it required a monumental shift in visitor attitudes and habits, altering the way visitors perceived bears and their role in Yellowstone (Wondrak Biel 2006).