Yosemite National Park Launches “Bear Tracker”
13 Apr 2017
People around the world that are enthusiastic about wildlife can now follow the black bears of Yosemite National Park in their daily journey using their smartphones and laptops as the bears cross wide distances and stride up steep canyons looking for mates and food.
The park informed The Associated Press that they launched a website, called KeepBearsWild.org to allow the public to track particular bears that were fitted with GPS tracking collars. The bears’ steps are pinged by the tracking tool from satellites and have already provided wildlife biologists with some surprising information.
Rangers hope the collars will educate the public about the black bears (many are actually brown) and protect them from harm. Guests of Yosemite can lock up their food, drive slowly and keep a safe distance from the bears to help keep them alive.
Dozens of Yosemite bears are hit each year by drivers and some result in death. The red flags on the bear tracking website indicate bears that were hit with a vehicle. Other bears search for food in campgrounds.
This project, according to Yosemite Conservancy’s Frank Dean, will help the public and rangers learn more about the bears that are treasured so much.
The GPS tracking devices showed that the bears were traveling over 30 miles in one day (sometimes two) and were moving up the canyon walls that were 5,000 ft high. The data from the collars isn’t in real-time and delays a bear’s location so that people don’t get tempted to track a bear down. However, the collars can be turned on and off by the rangers and signal them so they are able to keep a bear from entering a parking lot or campground in search of food.
Over the last 3 years, around 20 GPS tracking collars have been used by the park and enabled them to learn that the park bears start mating in May which is one month earlier than what the rangers thought.
Learning more about the habits of the bears through the public website and tracking technology will help rangers protect them better and help them raise awareness among guests about how they can help save the bears.
According to wildlife biologist, Ryan Leahy who is leading the project, it’s their responsibility to help keep the bears wild and it isn’t difficult to do when you know how to do it.
Yosemite National Park, Yosemite Conservancy, and Wharton Media, are raising awareness for the respect and appreciation of Yosemite’s black bears. The park is also encouraging also encouraging park visitors to drive slowly, store their food out of bear’s sight, smell, and reach, and to keep your distance from bears if sighted.
Comments are closed.