bearing with them
Sunday’s New York Times Magazine has a vivid article about black bears and humans in close cohabitation in Whistler, Canada.
The account of 90 attempted home break-ins and 1,500 calls to the bear-conflict hotline this year makes our bruin troubles seem relatively tame.
By comparison, in Jackson Hole in 2007, there were roughly 175 reported conflicts — more than the total of the last five years combined.
The situation in Whistler may presage what’s to come as hundreds of housing units are built at Teton Village, but also offers a lesson in coexisting with Ursus americanus.
Worth noting from the story: “Of the estimated 900,000 black bears in North America, on average only one causes fatal injuries to a person each year.”
Yet in Jackson Hole this year we have killed at least 16 bears, not counting those hit by cars or shot by hunters.
As writer Darcy Frey notes, “The danger of an encounter between humans and black bears is still borne almost entirely by the bear.”
Explore posts in the same categories: environment, wildlife, bears
