host posted on May 12, 2009 16:10
CODY--The Wyoming Game and Fish Department has unveiled a new grizzly bear management Web page on the department's Web site. The new page provides up-to-date information on grizzly bear conflict, research and education efforts, including weekly updates on bear management activities in Wyoming.
To access the page go to the WGFD Web site at http:gf.state.wy.us. Under the "What's New" section, click on "Grizzly Bear Management."
"The grizzly bear management program in Wyoming can be broken down into three broad categories, which include our efforts to reduce human-bear conflict, to understand grizzly bear population demographics and educate the public," said Dennie Hammer, the department's regional information and education specialist in Cody. "This new Web page is a big step in providing those who follow grizzly bear recovery with timely information on our grizzly bear management program."
Reducing human-bear conflict is a significant challenge for the Game and Fish. "Over the past five years, 443 human-bear conflicts, involving both black and grizzly bears, were reported statewide. Park County alone averages over 80 conflicts per year," Hammer said. According to Hammer, conflicts include bears obtaining human food rewards, getting into bird feeders, causing property damage and aggressive encounters with people.
The department's trophy game research branch works with black and grizzly bears and mountain lions. The branch collects a great deal of information on the grizzly bear population in Wyoming's portion of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. "Annually, they capture bears and fit them with radio collars. Collared bears provide information on movements, birth rates, cub survival, habitat use, denning periods and vital information used in population estimation," Hammer said.
Information and education outreach has long been a priority with the department. "For nearly 15 years our agency has been promoting coexistence with bears through information and education," Hammer said. "We are making a difference." Hammer organized and coordinated the first "Living in Bear Country" workshop in 1995 and currently leads the "Staying Safe in Bear, Lion and Wolf Country" seminar effort that provides Wyoming communities with information on how to stay safe while hunting and recreating in large predator country.
Click here to go to the Grizzly Bear Management page. The Web page also contains links to Wyoming's bear identification test, Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team reports, Wyoming's Grizzly Bear Management Plan and Occupation Guidelines, Final Conservation Strategy for the Grizzly Bear in the Yellowstone Ecosystem, Center for Wildlife Information and a number of technical documents.
The Wyoming Game and Fish Department assumed management of grizzly bears in 2007, after the bears were removed from the federal list of threatened and endangered species. Today, Wyoming is managing grizzlies in cooperation with the Yellowstone Grizzly Coordinating Committee, a group of state, federal, tribal, and local representatives overseeing grizzly bears throughout the Yellowstone ecosystem.