Yosemite National Park Now Lets You Track Its Bears From Your Phone
By Meredith Carey. Photos: Getty.
The first thing we learned today was that black bears aren't always black—they're sometimes brown, or even white. The second? More than five percent of Yosemite National Park's black bear population was struck by visiting drivers last year alone. To keep its bears safe, and to help the public—and even the park rangers—learn a little more about where the bears go during their days, the park has introduced Keep Bears Wild. A tracking system anyone can access, the program relays the bears' movements through the park's more than 1,100 square miles via GPS collars.
Park rangers are hoping the tracker helps motorists exercise caution driving in areas where bears have been hit (and often killed) by cars. They'll also use the information to make sure the animals stay away from campgrounds and parking lots—yes, Yogi will have to find food elsewhere. Plus, the GPS program has already revealed some data that surprised even the rangers: According to the Los Angeles Times, the bears actually mate in May, a full month before they were thought to; and travel upwards of 30 miles a day, even climbing in and out of the park's 5,000-foot canyons.
The tracking is on an undisclosed time delay for the public, so you won't be able to track the bears in real time. The point of this is to keep the bears wild, remember, and keep them safe. While the U.S. government recently repealed a prohibition on hunting bears, wolves, and other natural predators in Alaskan protected wilderness, it bears repeating (pun intended) that hunting animals within Yosemite's border is still illegal.
This is no sled dog puppy cam, but until Denali National Parks starts raising its next set of pups this summer, keeping up with the bears will have to do.
This story originally appeared on Conde Nast Traveler.
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