Spring flowers are emerging, and so are bears

Bears are very smart. They can learn quickly where they are not welcome. Hazing can be a very effective tool to keep bears out of communities and neighborhoods and in doing so, you will help preserve the wild nature of bears that is essential for their survival.

Please don’t wait to manage your garbage until it’s too late.

The safety of Wood River Valley residents, visitors and all Idahoans will always be the primary concern for Fish and Game. A bear that has developed a repeated habit of searching out and acquiring food from human sources is a threat to public safety and will be trapped or darted with an anesthetizing drug, and then euthanized.

Relocation of a food habituated bear is not an option.

Often, the bear returns to where it was trapped because it knows there is a food reward waiting for them. Moving this bear might also just transfer the problem to another community or campground in the backcountry.

Do your part to keep yourself, your neighbors, and bears safe

There are very simple things everyone can do to keep everyone safe and bears roaming the mountains where they belong.

• Where possible, use a bear resistant garbage container.
• Don’t put your garbage out until the morning of pickup, and until then, keep your garbage in a secure location, like a garage.
• Birds don’t need bird feeders to survive during the summer months because of an abundance of natural food sources, and residents are encouraged to take them down during this time. Bears can get a tremendous amount of calories from bird feeders, such as a 2,500-calorie reward from one pound of black oil sunflower seed, or 3,200 calorie reward from 32 ounces of hummingbird food.
• Don’t leave pet or livestock food outside where a bear can find it.
• Put an electric fence wire around chicken coops and bee hives.

It’s up to everyone to keep our communities safe, while keeping bears, and all wildlife, wild!

For more information, please contact the Magic Valley Regional Office at (208) 324-4359 or your nearest Idaho Department of Fish and Game office.