MAMMALS OF YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK 



87 



The last authentic record of the killing 

 of a grizzly in the State of California 

 was in August 1922, in Tulare County. 



The grizzly differs fom the black bear 

 both in structure and habits. In general, 

 grizzlies are larger than black bears. It 

 is believed that the Yosemite subspecies, 

 henshawi, was one of the smaller of the 

 California grizzlies. 



The external outlines of the mature 

 grizzly differ from the adult black bear 

 in being higher in the shoulder region, 



giving the appearance of a hump behind 

 the neck. The most reliable field distin- 

 guishing character of the grizzly, how- 

 ever, is the length of the front claws, 

 averaging three or more inches, as com- 

 pared with two inches for a large black 

 bear. The claws of the grizzly are less 

 curved, making it difficult for the adult 

 to climb trees. 



It is unfortunate that they are no 

 longer a part of our living wildlife. For 

 them conservation came too late. 



THE PRESENT BEAR POLICY AND ITS PROBLEMS 



Some thirty years ago visitors to Yosemite 

 Valley considered themselves fortunate to get even 

 a fleeting glimpse of a bear. With the gradual 

 increase in human visitors came a corresponding 

 increase in the number of bears, attracted by the 

 campers' foodstuffs and by enlarged garbage pits. 

 Soon bears started raiding camps for food, and, 

 after many visitor complaints, the National Park 

 Service began a bear feeding program, the food 

 consisting mainly of garbage scraps. 



The result was that the bears would remain 

 throughout the day in the vicinity of the feeding 

 pits which, due to the geography of the valley 

 area, could not be located any great distance 

 away from the main highways. The bears soon 

 turned into beggars, stopping cars, and lining the 

 roadside in hopes of receiving some tid-bits. 



To the visitor, the situation seemed ideal. Here 

 was a chance to see bears and to feed them. Few 

 appreciated that these were actually wild animals, 

 with the ability to inflict serious damage to those 

 coming too close to them. Accidents became more 

 frequent until more than sixty hospital cases were 

 recorded during one season. 



The service, in an attempt to reduce the num- 

 ber of accidents and to restore normal conditions, 

 then issued a new regulation prohibiting the visitor 

 from feeding, teasing, or molesting the bears. 

 Even this failed to solve entirely the problem. 



Nature was badly out of balance. The bears 

 were no longer accustomed to shifting for them- 

 selves. The valley was far too small to supply 

 sufficient natural food for such a large popula- 

 tion, and so the animals continued to raid camps 

 and garbage cans and to hold up cars. Accidents 

 from bear injuries were still too high. 



The policy under which our parks operate in 

 respect to wildlife is to keep conditions as nearly 

 natural as possible. The artificial feeding of bears 

 was therefore not the solution to the problem. 



"Bear show" feeding in Yosemite Valley was 

 discontinued in September 1 941). A total of 4 5 

 bears were trapped during the fall, and moved 

 to outlying areas above the valley rim. This still 

 left too many bears for such a small area. Since 



then, additional bears have been moved; particu- 

 larly, those individuals that insisted on begging 

 food along highways or were confirmed raiders 

 of camps. No bears were released outside the park 

 boundaries. 



Results in general are most encouraging, and 

 accidents from bears have dropped to only a few 

 cases a season. It is hoped that, through this 

 policy, the bear situation will continue to show 

 a steady improvement. 



Visitors common! v ask, "Where are the bears? 

 And where can we go to see them?" It is diffi- 

 cult to answer, as bears seldom remain at one 

 fixed spot fur any great length of time. 



They are often encountered along the roads 

 and trails, in the old apple orchards, or in the 

 campgrounds, liears on trails faithfully follow 

 every zig and zag, jnd the hiker had best step 

 off the trail, giving up the right-of-way. 



Campers usually have no difficulty seeing bears, 

 particularly, il they have such odorous foods as 

 ham or bacon in their larders. Foodstuffs should 

 be protected by caching in a box or sack and 

 suspending with a rope between two trees, or 

 from a horizontal limb. Make sure the food 

 supply is high enough above the ground so that 

 a bear will be unable to reach it, and far 

 enough away from the tree trunk that the bear 

 can't reach it by (limbing. Bears may break 

 into cars in search of food they can smell there. 



Raiding bears can usually be frightened away 

 by loud noises and flashlight beams. It should be 

 remembered, however, that a bear can both out- 

 run and outclimb a human, and that loss of food 

 is preferable to risking serious injuries through 

 too persistent defense of property. 



At times, it is possible for the rangers and 

 naturalists to advise visitors as to locations where 

 bears have been recently observed. It is believed 

 that the visitor will get a far greater thrill out 

 of seeing a bear in natuiai surroundings than 

 in seeing dozens of bears feeding on garbage. 



It is dangerous and unlawful to feed, tease, 

 or molest bears in a national pork. 



