Bear Workshop

Wyoming will soon begin the stage of the year when bears are looking to fatten up as they head to dens to hibernate.  With more people living in and enjoying Wyoming's outdoors, and an unseasonably warm summer moving bears to lower elevations, the Wyoming Game and Fish recently held a large carnivore workshop in Casper to provide the public with 

tips and other helpful knowledge to better understand the behaviors of large carnivores and how to reduce the potential for conflicts with bears and mountain lions.  The workshop provided practical information on how to avoid attracting large carnivores to property, what to look for while recreating, and how to reduce conflicts.     

Reducing conflicts with bears and mountain lions is important to avoid scenarios that could limit management options of those animals for the department.  The Bear Wise Management page on the Game and Fish website offers a range of information from how to secure potential attractants to bears to how to prevent bear encounters, whether at home or when recreating.  At the workshop, Game and Fish shared expertise, discussing large carnivore behaviors and offering tips for living, working and recreating in areas with large carnivores.    

Bears typically begin looking to pack on as much as 20,000 calories a day from around mid-August through November, looking to add fat reserves for hibernation.  If food rewards like birdfeeders, garbage, livestock feeds, and unsecured barbecue grills are offered, bears will take advantage.  The Bear Wise Website offers good advice—how to hang birdfeeders, waiting until the day of pickup before putting out garbage, and storing feeds and barbecue grills in a secure structure, and other tips.  If you’re spending time outdoors, there are ways to prevent encounters by being able to identify different behaviors and signs, keeping camps clean, and retrieving and securing harvested game…and of course, learning proper use of bear spray.     

As dry, hot weather impacts natural food sources for bears, the department wants to remind the public that providing food rewards for bears can cause unneeded problems that can easily be avoided.  Go to the Wyoming Wildlife tab on the webpage.  On the dropdown, click on the Bear Wise tab on the left side of the page, and scroll down to find the information you’re looking for.