P.O. Box 577
Yosemite, CA 95389
www.nps.gov/yose/news

209 372-0529 phone
209 372-0371 fax

August 19, 2003
For Immediate Release

Remote Alarm System a New Tool for Bear Management in Yosemite National Park

Using an innovative technique not yet used elsewhere, the National Park Service, the Wildlife Services/National Wildlife Research Center (NWRC), and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) are working in cooperation to enhance the bear management program in Yosemite National Park.

By using a remote alarm system that notifies wildlife management when a bear with a radio collar is in a developed area, staff can quickly respond to haze bears that routinely get human food, reduce the amount of human food bears obtain, the amount of damage the bears do to human property, and better track the movements and habits of bears.

Aversive conditioning, or hazing, is a method of using loud noises, bright lights, bean bag bullets, simply throwing small rocks at the vicinity of the bear, and other means to discourage a bear from staying in a developed area or engaging in habituated behavior such as obtaining human food from a car or campsite.

The idea for the remote alarm system came from NWRC scientists trying to minimize problems with wolves and ranchers in Idaho and was developed at the NWRC headquarters in Fort Collins, Colorado.

The system utilizes radio telemetry to continually monitor designated, developed areas in Yosemite Valley. When the system detects a bear, it sends a message through the park's radio network alerting personnel that a bear is in a particular developed area. The use of this new technology increases the effectiveness of hazing program designed to re-educate habituated bears.

"This has been a tremendous cooperative effort between the National Wildlife Research Center, Yosemite National Park, and the Wildlife Conservation Society. Though we are in the preliminary stages of testing the system, thus far it appears to be an effective tool for assisting park biologists in Yosemite," said Stewart Breck, researcher for the NWRC.

-NPS-