Two young black bears were euthanized in the past month after they romped around Teton Village gorging on human food.
At the end of August, a young male bear prowled the Four Seasons Resort and Residences pool deck and tried a few fries. Two weeks later, a similarly fearless female approached the tram deck at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort and munched a worker’s lunch.
Both were too brazen to be relocated, said Dan Thompson, large carnivores lead for Wyoming Game and Fish.
“Bears grabbing food away from people, grabbing people’s backpacks, that’s very close to moving toward a predatory type behavior,” he said.
Last season’s record warm winter drove a shortage of berries and other natural food sources, pushing bears further into human territory across the Mountain West, Thompson said. But in this instance, human behavior may have also contributed.
The bear that was euthanized by the Aerial Tram had reportedly been fed by guests, said Jon Bishop, who directs safety at JHMR. Better warnings to guests may be needed.
“We don’t really start off with ‘Don’t feed the bears,’ that seems to be fairly evident,” he said. “But maybe that’s something that we need to look at.”
The quiet removal of the bears from a popular tourist destination has not been previously reported. That’s in stark contrast to a bear in Grand Teton National Park that made national headlines when it was euthanized this month near Delta Lake.
Park publicized deaths while state stayed quiet
While the park is still compiling a final tally, bruin conflicts this year may have surpassed the record 16 conflicts in 2024, when managers killed two black bears and relocated five, said Emily Davis, Grand Teton spokesperson.
The park service said it publicized killing the 5-year-old sow to discourage visitors from leaving food and packs unattended. That message is particularly relevant in fall, when bears become hyper-focused on consuming as many calories as possible before winter.
“Even a single food reward can change a bear’s behavior,” Davis said.
The park cited multiple visitors for approaching wildlife and improper food storage, Davis said. A second black bear was euthanized in the park near Jenny Lake earlier this summer.
Thompson said his department opted not to publicize the killings so as not to discourage people from calling in reports. The sooner people call in, the better the chances of bears surviving, he said.
“We would much rather fly under the radar than promote things that end up in the New York Times,” Thompson said. “We’re not hiding anything, but putting out a release that we killed bears doesn’t really help the cause for bears or people that are doing things right.”
Across the Tetons, conflicts are up
Dangerous bear encounters this summer have spanned both sides of the Tetons. A black bear scaled resort employee Chad Jakubowski’s fence, poking around the trampoline as he and his kids yelled from inside.
Sheriffs in Idaho shot a black bear after it raided a kitchen butter dish in Driggs, Idaho.
And a Victor, Idaho, woman had her apple trees raided last week.
“I’d been waiting for these apples to ripen,” said retired educator Marian Ruzicka.
The Honeycrisp scat around her yard later revealed how much the black bear had gorged. She said Idaho Fish and Game told her she shouldn’t have fruit trees so close to their habitat.
This summer, ursine wanderings have crept from town outskirts to dense neighborhoods, where bear-proof trash cans aren’t required.
Victor, Idaho, Mayor Sue Muncaster said the summer activity has been “pretty unprecedented.”
“People are bringing their dogs inside and keeping a good eye on their kids,” she said.
