Black Bear Management in Yosemite National Park

Conflicts between park visitors and the American black bear (Ursus americanus) in Yosemite National Park pose serious management problems for the National Park Service and often result in extreme inconvenience and monetary losses to park visitors. Food-reward associations with humans have resulted in the loss of the black bear's instinctive fear of people and in the development of highly sophisticated patterns of depredation. A management program consisting of 5 basic elements was implemented in the spring of 1975 to meet bear management objectives of the National Park Service. The effects of management on bears and park visitors were evaluated by monitoring the patterns of damage that bears displayed before and during the program. Analyses of data accrued from property damage, personal injuries, and control of problem bears were also made. The results of these analyses are discussed and their implications applied to management practices and research needs. Comparisons of data accrued before and through the first 2 years of the program appear to support the hypothesis that the program is achieving its stated objectives.