Police Officer Christopher Pekema, from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, in Washington state, right, holds on to Mishka, a Karelian bear dog, as Washington Fish and Wildlife officials release a black bear Aug. 3, 2011, in a remote area of the Cascade Range. (Ingrid Barrentine - click to enlarge)
From Staff Reports
Learning how to avoid human-bear conflicts and coexist with an expanding grizzly bear population will be the topic of four upcoming presentations by Alberta, Canada, biologist Jay Honeyman.
Honeyman will discuss lessons learned from innovative work with grizzly bears in Alberta, including aversive conditioning, managing waste and other attractants, herd and flock management practices to reduce livestock predation, and use of deterrents. He will also cover the use of Karelian bear dogs in deterring bears.
He will also share his thoughts on how recreationists can avoid confrontations in grizzly bear country.
Honeyman will share specific insights on how individuals can better learn to tolerate, accept and ultimately appreciate living with grizzly bears in the greater Yellowstone area.
He works as a human/bear conflict biologist with Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development—Fish and Wildlife Division in the southern Rockies of Alberta.
He has worked in Canada and the United States as a bear conflict biologist with the Wind River Bear Institute in Florence, Montana, and worked for 17 years as a park ranger in Alberta’s Kananaskis Country west of Calgary.
Honeyman’s talks in the area are scheduled for:
- Sept. 6 at the Teton Science School in Jackson, Wyo.
- Sept. 7 at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyo.,
- Sept. 11 at the Emerson Cultural Center in Bozeman, Mont.
- Sept. 12 in the Eastern Idaho Community Action Partnership board room in Idaho Falls, Idaho.
The public is welcome to all four talks and no admission will be charged. For more information, contact the Greater Yellowstone Coalition at 406-586-1593 or visit the group’s web site.