Braving sub-zero temperatures to go winter camping in
Montana’s Glacier National Park used to have one big perk – no need
to watch out for grizzly bears. The bears usually hibernate from
late-November to April. But now, say biologists, two or three young
grizzlies are on the prowl year-round in the park, pilfering the
kills of wolf packs and mountain lions.
Wolf
researchers in the park found fresh grizzly tracks throughout
January and February in the vicinity of wolf and lion kills. “It’s
actually been several winters running that the bears have been
taking advantage of the opportunities afforded by other
carnivores,” says park spokeswoman Amy Vanderbilt. Ever since
wolves from Canada migrated into the park about 10 years ago, the
winter food supply for grizzlies has
increased.
To cope with the uninvited dinner
guests, lions in the park are changing their eating habits, say
biologists. Rather than dilly-dally around a deer carcass for a few
days, lions immediately chow down their kills.
The new dynamic appears to be limited to the
park. South of Glacier, along the South Fork of the Flathead,
grizzlies are hibernating as usual. The reasons, biologists say,
are lower big-game populations and fewer lions and
wolves.
* Mark
Matthews
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Grizzlies forego their snooze.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
