When I was little, Saturday mornings were my favorite. I would plant myself to watch cartoons, and one of my favorites was "Yogi Bear." It was fun to watch Yogi, Boo Boo and Daisy Bear try to outsmart the ranger and steal picnic baskets for food. The catch line was, "Don't steal that basket Yogi, or the ranger will get mad."
As cute as bears are, they are not supposed to be able to get "people food." When bears are able to get "people food," they become acclimated to the easy source of food and become lazy. But, that is not the larger problem. The big problem is the bears beginning to forage for food at campgrounds and houses on Mt. Lemmon, which inevitably leads to black bears "attacking" people for food.
Because of the high use of the campgrounds and the disregard for the law, the gentle balance between the uses of the land and wildlife has been changed. Also, the high drought this year has lead to the decrease in natural food sources and has messed up the ecological balance. According to Pat O'Brien, the department spokesman for the Arizona Game and Fish Department, these contributing factors have led to the black bear food source being greatly diminished, and the bears being attracted to subdivisions, trash cans, and food in general. There are usually problems every year, but the drought led to an increase this year. Although there can be citations issued for feeding the bears, because it is illegal and causes numerous problems, it is difficult to catch people violating these laws.
Although the Arizona Game and Fish Department has tried to educate people on the problems of black bears, people continue to disregard their instructions. The instructions are simple: do not store food in or near your tent; use a Coleman cooler which is locked up in the car or in a 'bar box'; eat before it gets dark, and then change your clothes and wash away the scent of food from your hands and face. With these simple rules, a person can avoid a bear attack.
However, because of people ignoring these rules, there have been attacks. For instance, the 8-year-old who was attacked this year had been eating s'mores, and did not wash her face and hands afterward. The bear, which has an excellent olfactory sense, smelled the chocolate and supposedly started to lick her face. The little girl screamed, and the bear swiped her face, both absolutely natural reactions.
O'Brien said that during this year, the department has had to destroy one male and one female, and another bear was poached (killed illegally by hunters). Also, so far, nine bears have been removed from Mt. Lemmon. One problem with bear removal is that bears have a homing device and will return to their home mountain. With the natural migration of bears, it is not uncommon for the bears to travel 50 miles to return to their mountain, and then the problems can start up again.
The sad thing about this is the reputation that black bears are getting. These bears tend to be very docile and only attack when the mother is separated from her cub, when their territory has been infringed upon, or when they are scared. According to a University of Calgary study, from 1900-1983, there were only 26 deaths from black bear attacks in North America. Consider that low number when there are over half a million bears in North America. It is sad, though, that bears are bearing the brunt of human stupidity and disregard for the law and common sense. If people only followed simple preventative measures, there would be a significant decrease in attacks. With the continued feeding of bears, either direct (placing food outside for the bears) or indirect (trash cans, food in tent, etc.), the bears will continue to look for food at camp sites and will continue to come into contact with humans, which inevitably leads to a bear "attack."
There are only two solutions for the problem: stop having campers on Mt. Lemmon, or kill and remove all the black bears. Think about it as if someone came barging into your home and set up camp; you'd be pissed too. Therefore, I vote to get rid of the humans.
Jeremy Pepper