Yosemite bears eating like it’s 1915
By Bettina Boxall, Los Angeles Times
Black bears in Yosemite National Park aren’t snacking as much on human food as they did decades ago, according to new research that traces changes in the diet of Yosemite bears over the last century.
Researchers analyzed samples of bear bones from museums and bear hair collected from the field to determine the ratio of human-to-wild-food that Yosemite bears consumed as far back as 1915.
Not surprisingly, they found that the proportion of human food rose significantly after the park started feeding bears in 1923 to keep the animals away from developed areas. Lighted feeding platforms were even used to entertain park visitors until 1940.
Now we know the truth.
First they feed the bears and when they became a problem, they transplanted them in Tahoe, where I believe the feeding continued. Not on the scale of today but continued none the less. And here we are, with many generations of mom teaching the kids where the dinner table can be found.
With a history of 100 years of this kind of practice, the bears are doomed.
Articles like this reinforce my distrust in “experts” and their plans. Each successive iteration of policy offers yet another opportunity to get it wrong. That would be fine if they didn’t give the bills for their experimentation to the taxpayer every time. Then, bill the taxpayer to fix the problems created by their experimentation. Then, bill the taxpayer for a study to look into alternative action. Then, bill the taxpayer for taking the alternative action. And so on…
Money well spent on research welfare recipients? Give me a break.