This year, in the states of the American West, encounters between grizzlies and people have increased noticeably more than before. In Montana, Wyoming and Idaho, where the main population of these bears in the contiguous United States is concentrated, the number of conflicts is growing against a backdrop of drought and crop failure of natural forage.
Grizzlies (Ursus arctos horribilis) are recovering their numbers after decades of protection, and their range is gradually expanding. At the same time, however, the human presence is also growing: new homes, tourist routes and farms are encroaching on the bears' habitual territories. As a result, the animals increasingly seek easy prey — garbage, livestock feed or fruit trees.
According to local agencies, in Montana alone, about two hundred conflicts with grizzlies were recorded in 2026. The picture is similar in Wyoming: employees of the department for the protection of wildlife are forced to resort more often to trapping and, in extreme cases, to shooting problem individuals. At the same time, specialists emphasise that most incidents can be prevented.
The main measures are simple but systemic actions. Installing bear-proof garbage containers, electric fences around pastures and clearing carrion from roads. In national parks and adjacent areas, educational campaigns are conducted: tourists are taught not to leave food at campsites, and local residents receive help in fortifying their yards. In some areas, programmes have already been tried for relocating bears and scaring them off with sound and light.
These steps show that the rise in conflicts is not an inevitable tragedy, but the consequence of specific conditions that can be changed. When people remove attractants and follow the rules, bears enter populated places less often, and the population continues to grow steadily.
Ultimately, the success of coexistence depends on how consistently the states and residents apply already proven methods of preventing conflicts.
