Officials respond to record number of incidents.

Bear and human conflicts continue to be a huge problem in Teton County this month.  According to the Game and Fish Department, the sharp increase in bear incidents is related to “a poor natural food year.”
“This year we have seen bears in places we don’t normally see bears,” said Mark Gocke, Game and Fish information specialist. “Even if some residents haven’t ever had a bear visit their property, it could happen this year. We recommend everyone take care of their garbage and other attractants regardless of where they live.”
According to the Game and Fish, garbage is still the number-one thing that is drawing bears out of the wild.
“We still have a problem of people being complacent with their garbage and other attractants,” said Gocke. “I don’t know if people think the bear problem has gone away, but it hasn’t and we all need to get in the habit of keeping attractants unavailable all year long. People must accept the hard fact that the consequence of not doing this simple thing is often a dead bear.”
According to information provided by the Game and Fish, in a poor food year year like this, bears can and will eat food wherever they can find it - even if that means wandering right into town.
Just last week the Game and Fish received several reports of a black bear near the Wyoming Highway 22/U.S. Highway 89 intersection in Jackson. This month a black bear was seen crossing Cache Street near the visitor center in Jackson. During the summer, a black bear and her cub were captured adjacent to Jackson’s main street in the middle of the afternoon.
According to information provided by the Game and Fish, one of the biggest issues relating to bear and human conflicts is bears begin to associate civilzation with easy food.
Officials are currently monitoring a radio-collared adult female black bear that has been frequenting residential areas in Buffalo Valley near Moran. The bear was trapped and relocated to the Togwotee Pass area last week and has since returned.
Another problem is mother bears abandoning their cubs. On four separate occasions over the past two weeks, Game and Fish officials have captured black bear cubs that had been abandoned by their mothers . The cubs were frequenting developed areas in search of food.
One cub was in very poor condition, weighing a mere six pounds. That is less than a quarter of the normal weight for this time of year. The cub had to be euthanized. Another had become very habituated to people,  and was taken to the Game and Fish Department’s Thorne/Williams Wildlife Research Facility near Laramie. That bear will likely be placed in a zoo. The two other cubs were in good health and were relocated.
“It’s not uncommon to see mother bears abandon their cubs in a bad food year,” Gocke said. “It’s just another indication that there’s a real lack of natural food out there this year.”
In the Jackson area alone, Game and Fish officials have responded to more than 175 bear conflicts this year, well more than the 150 total of the last five years combined. In addition, officials have lethally removed nine black bears and relocated more than 25.
“Late summer and fall is typically when conflicts tend to pick up as bears are actively feeding around the clock, trying to put on fat before they go into hibernation,” Gocke said. “I can’t stress enough how important it is for people to be extremely careful with their garbage and other bear attractants.”