Bear spray can be rented at Canyon Village in Yellowstone National Park/NPS, Jim Peaco
One of the posters in the "A Bear Don't Care" campaign/NPS
In an effort to prepare visitors for handling a hostile bear encounter, Yellowstone National Park has launched a campaign – “A Bear Doesn’t Care” – to encourage more people to carry bear spray in the park.
“A bear doesn’t care how far you’re hiking, if you’re just fishing, or even if you work here,” Superintendent Dan Wenk said in a release. “No matter who you are or what you are doing, you should always carry bear spray and know how to use it.”
Recent data collected by park scientists revealed that only 28 percent of visitors who enter the park’s backcountry carry bear spray. Studies show that bear spray is more than 90 percent effective in stopping an aggressive bear, and it is the most effective deterrent when used in combination with regular safety recommendations – be alert, make noise, hike in groups of three or more, and do not run if you encounter a bear.
“Yellowstone visitors care deeply about preserving bears and observing them in the wild,” Kerry Gunther, the park’s bear management specialist, said in a release. “Carrying bear spray is the best way for visitors to participate in bear conservation because reducing potential conflicts protects both people and bears.”
Earlier this year, a review board noted that “the majority of hikers in Yellowstone National Park do not follow recommended safety procedures to reduce the risk of bear attacks.” There have been six human fatalities caused by grizzly bears in the Yellowstone ecosystem since 2010, and five involved hikers. Of those, four involved solitary hikers, and none carried bear spray. The other hiker fatality involved two hikers who were not carrying bear spray.
Local celebrities who appear in the “A Bear Doesn’t Care” campaign share the message that bear spray is essential for safety in bear country. Initial poster designs include alpinist Conrad Anker, artist Jennifer Lowe-Anker, and National Geographic photographer Ronan Donovan. Actor Jeff Bridges, writer Todd Wilkinson, fly fisherman Craig Mathews, and others will join the effort in the coming months. The posters are available for download on Flickr and the park’s website.
Yellowstone posts information online about how to use bear spray, and demonstrations are conducted by park employees at visitor centers throughout the summer. The park rents bear spray at Canyon Village and also has a recycling program.
Comments
Yellowstone National Park, and all other agencies in Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho that belong to the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee, give people lousy information on how to carry bear spray, when to spray, and how to spray. Carry bear spray in hand. If a bear is close enough to spray, spray it!! Use two hands when spraying.
I have been a back country guide in Yellowstone for a while now. We are so lucky to have Yellowstone as well as other National Parks so close and available to us. Ten minutes from the moment you leave your car you can be in a wild natural place that animals like bears and wolves thrive within. In africa you would be required to be accompanied by an armed gaurd. We are fortunate that we can experience the purity of nature on a personal level.... on our own if we choose to do so.... With that being said, we should always respect how vulnerable we truly are in a wild place such as Yellowstone. Bears live by a total different set of rules.... the moment we set foot into their world we must live by there rules. Bear Spray is absolutly the most effective bear deterrent that can be had. If you follow the rules you will most likely never have to use it.