The State - News from July 25, 1988

Rangers in Yosemite National Park are advising visitors to yell, scream, bang pots and pans, wave their arms--even throw a few rocks from a safe distance--when bears show up. “We need people to be a little more bold” in telling the bears to go back to their part of the woods, said Jeff Keay, the park’s wildlife biologist. The new policy, which replaced one that called for being passive, was devised after park rangers began searching for new solutions to the “bear problem.” From 1975 to 1987, 78 bears had to be killed because they repeatedly bothered campers and hikers, Keay said. Another 10 died accidentally as they were being captured for tagging and examination. A park study found that in nearly 1,000 encounters, bears rarely threatened humans, and caused no injuries.