Researchers track bears near Yosemite National Park with GPS technology during the ongoing drought in California.<\/p>\n
California has been dealing with a massive drought for several years, though it has gotten worse in the last year. Much of the state is in a drought situation, including areas where water usage is being monitored.<\/p>\n
With high and dry temperatures year-round, and hardly any rain, it is also causing animals to come out from hiding in search of water and food. This includes bears that make the areas around Yosemite National Park their home.<\/p>\n
As a result, researchers are tracking bear using global positioning systems (GPS). The tracking collars monitors movements and behaviors of the bears, particularly when they might be on the move toward civilization where they can become a danger to others.<\/p>\n
Researchers also want to know more about how the drought is affecting the bears. With little water and little vegetation due to the drought, they are concerned about the health and wellbeing of the bears.<\/p>\n
As expected, more sightings of bears in Yosemite Valley has increased as the drought has increased. Experts do believe the lack of food in their natural habitat from the lack of rain is what is causing them to venture outside of their home in search of food.<\/p>\n
UC Davis Department of Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology professor Roger Baldwin said:<\/p>\n
\u201cDuring drought conditions, if bears\u2019 natural food supply becomes relatively limited, they will seek for alternative food supplies. It brings them into conflict with humans by them coming into campsites.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n Park services for Yosemite National Park has placed GPS tracking collars on many of the bears in their area. These collars have up-to-date information about the bears, including their movements, habits and activities throughout the day. There are bears that show to be unpredictable in their behaviors over the last few months, and have come in contact with humans when searching for food. These bears are the ones experts are most interested in studying.<\/p>\n Yosemite Conservancy is funding the GPS tracking project after having donated $70,000 to help the park purchase the tracking devices and further their research. They want to see what is happening with the bears, and look for potential warning signs that a bear might soon be venturing out and into campsites, where they can be harmful or at least frightening for humans.<\/p>\n They want to increase their visitor experience, and when their food is ransacked and bear sightings are near children or those frightened of the bears, it can really detract from them. Yosemite has up to 500 bears, though they usually stay far away from parking areas and campsites, yet the California drought is causing them to roam more often.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Researchers track bears near Yosemite National Park with GPS technology during the ongoing drought in California. California has been dealing with a massive drought for several years, though it has gotten worse in the last year. Much of the state is in a drought situation, including areas where water usage is being monitored. With high […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_focus_keyword":"","rank_math_description":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-applications"],"yoast_head":"\n