Seeley Schools Get "Bear-Proofed"
“For bears, there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Once they get into our garbage, it’s often a one-way trip to conflict with people and a dead bear,” said Minette Johnson, Northern Rockies Field Representative for Defenders of Wildlife, “Defenders is happy to provide the equipment to help head off this problem, keeping people safe and keeping bears alive.”
“We think the schools are a great place to start to raise awareness about how to prevent problems between bears and people.” Says Patti Bartlett of the Bear Aware in Seeley/Swan group. “We hope this is a first step towards making the communities in the Seeley Lake/Swan Valley more ‘bear aware’.”
Recent research suggests the numbers of grizzly bears and black bears that live in and around Seeley Lake are increasing. Over the last ten years there has been a chronic problem in the area with black bears getting into trouble with people. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks has had to trap and relocate up to ten black bears a year and has destroyed several others. Six grizzly bears have been killed by humans as a result of food conditioning and/or habituation in just the last four years.
“Site conflicts with attractants like garbage are the primary cause of grizzly bear deaths in western Montana, and yet they are preventable to a great degree.” says Jamie Jonkel, Bear Manager for Region Two of Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. “Until we have more bear-resistant dumpsters in Seeley, we will continue to have problems with bears.”
When bears get access to garbage, livestock or pet feed or bird seed they often end up becoming accustomed to those unnatural food sources. This can result in bears losing their natural fear of humans and coming too close to people and their houses. Bear managers try to use ‘aversive conditioning’ techniques, like cracker shells, bean bag rounds and aggressive Karelian Bear dogs to alter this behavior. Unfortunately, more likely than not, the bear eventually ends up dead either as a result of illegal killing or management removal.
Bear-resistant dumpsters have proven very effective in preventing the bears from accessing human garbage. They are tested by real bears, at facilities like the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center in West Yellowstone , before being approved for use in wild bear habitat. This is just one of many approaches that Defenders of Wildlife has used to help communities coexist with large carnivores.
With funding from The Bailey Wildlife Foundation Proactive Carnivore Conservation Program, Defenders of Wildlife cooperates with local landowners and state, tribal and federal agencies to do tangible projects on the ground to prevent conflicts between bears and people. Some examples include purchasing electric fencing materials to create secure calving grounds and sheep bedding grounds, funding aversive conditioning by Karelian bear dogs, and securing the retirement of grazing allotments in key grizzly bear habitat. Since its creation, Defenders has provided more than $160,000 for 40 proactive projects to encourage grizzly bear recovery. Since 1997 Defenders has also offered compensation for livestock losses caused by grizzly bears, and has paid more than $101,000 for 138 incidents during that time.
###
Defenders of Wildlife is one of the nation's most progressive advocates for wildlife and habitat, and was named as one of America's Top 100 Charities by Worth magazine. With more than 450,000 members and supporters, Defenders is an effective voice for wildlife and habitat. To learn more about Defenders of Wildlife, please visit www.defenders.org.
Contact(s):
Minette Johnson, Defenders of Wildlife, (406) 549-4103Patty Bartlett, Bear Aware in Seeley/Swan, (406) 677-0088
Jamie Jonkel, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, (406) 542-5508
