Grizzlies and Us: Explore the uneasy coexistence of bears and humans
In this 10-part series produced over the past year by outdoor reporters and photojournalists across Montana and Wyoming, the many issues surrounding the uneasy coexistence of grizzlies and humans are examined in full.
Two hundred years ago, grizzly bears ruled the West. Today, people have taken that throne and relegated Ursus arctos horribilis to a fraction of its former range. But the bears — backed by legal protection and decades of recovery efforts – have begun reasserting themselves, in some cases appearing in areas where they hadn’t been seen for nearly a century.
And as the line between what is human versus bear territory blurs, a subsequent increase in conflicts has created challenges for residents, wildlife managers and politicians alike.
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Are grizzly bears tourist attractions, traffic hazards or nightmare killers? How people imagine bears drives a lot of how we try to manage them.
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Grizzlies once roamed widely across the West until Euro-American settlers and explorers reduced their numbers out of spite and sport from 50,000 to an estimated 600 in less than 200 years.
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Brad Treat’s fatal bike collision with a grizzly illustrates the challenge of recreating in bear country. With both bear populations and human activity on the upswing, conflicts will grow accordingly.
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A rancher has used guard dogs with tracking collars and other tech to protect his sheep from predators. Now he hopes an effort to keep grizzlies away from a nearby dump will solve a bigger issue — ravens.
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A ranching family dealing with grizzly depredations offers an account of incidents which left one grizzly and several steers dead. Bear managers are now working with landowners as more bears arrive.
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Grizzlies helped Doug Peacock heal after his traumatizing service as a Green Beret in Vietnam. In return, the author and filmmaker has dedicated his life to advocating for the bears.
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For several generations, the Kelsey family has raised cows and led dudes through some of the wildest grizzly country outside of Yellowstone National Park. They’ve found a way to co-exist.
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Seeley man gets wildlife photographer of year award for grizzly bear shot that took months to capture.
9
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For years a state wildlife biologist's efforts to spot grizzlies along the Beartooth Front were fruitless, but that changed after bear numbers rebounded in nearby Yellowstone National Park.
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In the Tom Miner Basin near Yellowstone National Park, a ranching family has worked to live alongside grizzly bears by modifying their own behaviors and livestock, and by adopting unique technology.
11
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Black bears used to cause havoc in Virginia City, but efforts to neutralize attractants changed that. Now, residents hope those efforts have prepared them for their next likely visitors — grizzlies.
12
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As grizzlies have expanded to the Beartooth Front, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks has hired Kylie Kembel to educate the public about living safely with their new, wild neighbors.
13
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A survey of Montana grizzly attitudes show residents value having grizzlies around, but think hunting is necessary and useful - something bear biologists haven’t found much evidence to support.
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A Montana rancher doesn’t agree with how grizzlies are being managed on private lands. Nonetheless, he supports the species’ right to exist and is using the non-lethal methods to protect his property.
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A Yellowstone National Park Bear Biologist has seen grizzly populations slowly recover. He says the main challenge is teaching people to act responsibly for the health and safety of bears and humans.
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Experts are studying grizzlies as they travel to new territories. One collared male has roamed to surprising places, demonstrating where more bears may show up and the precautions people should take.
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A radio-collared grizzly sow took a 2,800-mile trek through Montana and Idaho. Her trail shows the many places bears may soon inhabit as their numbers increase.
18
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Grizzlies have made gains toward recovery, but populations may need to connect to secure long-term stability. That has prompted scientists to focus on lands that fall between large populations.
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Bear management in Indian Country looks very different from the mainstream public lands approach. For one thing, there’s a strong spiritual component.
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Native American tribes throughout the Rocky Mountains have extensive traditions regarding grizzlies and their sovereign nation status gives them legal rights in the future of grizzly management.
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Grizzly bears aren’t only a challenge for Montanans. People confront the big brown bears around the world, and have many different ways of building a relationship.
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As the grizzly population has grown, so too has the political divide in the country and Montana. How will polarization shape the future of grizzlies, a species that can be both revered and divisive?
