Black Bear Problem Resumes In Curt Goudy Park Wyoming

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department has posted on their website that the bears are awake again in Curt Gowdy State Park, Wyoming. They are reminding folks that those bears were a bit of a problem in 2020.

“In 2020, there were numerous conflicts with bears throughout the area, with bears attempting to obtain food rewards from campsites and residences,” said Game and Fish.

It might actually be interesting to attend the parks “Bear Wise” workshop where the park will address the problem. The program will be held at 1 pm Sunday, May 23 at Curt Gowdy State Park’s Visitor’s Center.

One possible reason for the increase in bear problems in the area in 2020 was a lack of natural food due to dry conditions. This sent the bears down to where the humans were, to find what they could scavenge.

The park service has the usual list of precautions for campers, regarding securing trash and keeping food locked up and maybe even wrapped up so they can't smell it so easily. Basically, a good clean campsite with anything a bear might eat, including trash, secured.

You can read a full list of safety guidelines and suggestions at the park service website at this link.

“Regardless if you’ve never had problems with bears in the past, we need people to be bear wise,” said Lee Knox, Laramie Region Wildlife Biologist. “This is bear country. We need you to be diligent at all times and it is critical that bears don’t access human food.” Knox said the increase in bear activity in 2020 was likely due to the lack of natural food sources caused by extremely dry conditions, forcing bears to seek alternative food sources. With more moisture this spring, wildlife biologists are hopeful that we’ll see fewer conflicts with black bears. But cooperation from both homeowners and campers is the key to preventing most bear conflicts.