It’s not too early for all Wood River Valley and other Idaho residents to do your part to ensure that bears, as well as all wildlife, do not become food-conditioned by finding a food reward around your house. 

Securing garbage is the key to keeping bears wild

The safety of Wood River Valley residents, visitors and all Idahoans will always be the primary concern for Fish and Game when dealing with food-conditioned bears. 

Wood River Valley residents, as well as other Idahoans, pride themselves on living in close proximity to wildlife. However, that also means everyone shares the responsibility to keep wildlife wild. Allowing bears to become comfortable living in your neighborhood could be a death sentence - for the bear. While a bear in your yard might be exciting, you must do your part to keep the bear wild.

Relocation of a food-conditioned 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. 

We all know it never ends well for the bear who becomes habituated to human food. The unfortunate reality is that once a bear has developed a repeated habit of searching out and acquiring food from human sources it becomes a threat to public safety and will be euthanized. But there is a very easy solution to that problem - every resident, and even our seasonal visitors, need to pledge to eliminate all chances for bears to get human food, ever!

Bears don’t belong in neighborhoods

When a bear learns that walking across your yard or deck is OK, it will continue that behavior. By doing nothing, the bear learns that people are harmless and that taking daily walks around your house is both acceptable and potentially rewarding if they find food. 

If you have a bear around your house, or in your neighborhood, and, if it can be done safely, immediate action is necessary to haze the bear to let it know it is not welcome. This can be done by loud yelling, clapping your hands, banging on pots and pans, basically anything to scare it away.