Life Sciences Commons^™

Human-Bear Interactions In The Backcountry Of Yosemite National Park, Bruce Charles Hastings

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The objective of this study was to quantitatively document interactions between black bears and backcountry visitors, and to identify the factors affecting those encounters. Fine hundred and ninety-two interactions were observed. The most common responses of visitors to bears were to watch, walk toward, and talk to others and/or point at the bear. Bears responded to humans largely by walking away, watching, traveling around, walking toward, and running away from people.

Each behavior for both species was categorized into one of four response classes: (1) fear/avoidance, (2) neutrality, (3) approach, or (4) aggression. Over 65 percent of visitor responses were …