Dark Denizens in Park City?

They’re called “black ghosts” of the forest. Rightly so, most of the time. But recently, it seems these dark denizens have been doing business right in our own back yard. Bears were sighted numerous times last summer in Park City’s Summit Park, Pinebrook and Deer Valley areas. In Pinebrook and Summit Park, a bear lingered for weeks, raiding dumpsters and wandering into garages. Wildlife officials set traps and then tried to tranquilize the intruder with a dart gun. But the elusive bear melted back into the forest before it could be moved. Typically, the American black bear (Ursus americanus) is among the most shy and secretive of large mammals. Black bears usually avoid contact with humans, preferring the sanctuary of dark timber and alpine meadows. It is there that they find food, shelter and safety. Their primary means of defense? Climbing a tree.

AMERICAN BLACK BEAR
(ursus americanus)Average length: Five feet
Average weight: 125 - 400 pounds
Black bears exhibit many color variations, primarily black, cinnamon and brown. One rare variant is the so-called “spirit bear,” a creamy white black bear found in British Columbia. Omnivores, they eat berries, nuts, acorns, roots, plants, carrion, small animals and fish.

In natural settings, black bears are shy and reclusive, although females with cubs are very protective. Females breed every two to three years. Cubs weigh less than a pound at birth but grow quickly on mother’s milk, which has about four times more butterfat than cow’s milk.

Black bears have always had great significance in Native American lore. They’re often associated with introspection, or called “keepers of dreams,” probably because of their hibernation patterns. Some tribes believe that when bears hibernate, their spirit forms come forth and roam the land. In Native American stories, humans often appear disguised as bears or are transformed into bears, and bears are often referred to as brother, grandmother or uncle.

Black bears, like humans, are omnivores, meaning simply that they’ll eat just about anything that doesn’t eat them. About 80 percent of their diet in Utah consists of tubers, roots, bulbs, berries and acorns. They are, however, opportunistic feeders with an appetite for protein. It’s estimated that an adult bear preparing to hibernate must take in about 20,000 calories a day to survive the winter.

Last year was a “perfect storm” for bears in the Park City area, which lies smack in the middle of prime bear habitat. A late spring freeze wiped out the high country berry and acorn crops, which bears depend on through late summer and fall. That, coupled with a hot, dry summer, put hungry bears on the prowl.

Jordan Pederson, a veteran black bear biologist living in nearby Kamas, has studied these shy creatures for 30 years. He wasn’t surprised when bears started showing up in unusual places last summer. “We’re moving into their habitat at an alarming rate,” says Pederson, who holds a PhD in wildlife biology from Brigham Young University. “When you get these kinds of conditions, hungry bears are going to find food wherever they can.”

Human-bear encounters are rare — there have been fewer than a dozen recorded in the state — but they do happen, sometimes with tragic consequences. That was the case in July of 2007, when a bear dragged a 10-year-old boy from a tent in American Fork Canyon and mauled him to death. The bear, which had been in the area raiding trash cans, was tracked and killed by state wildlife officials and houndsmen.

“Bears kept me pretty busy last summer,” reports Dave Swenson, a conservation officer with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources whose district includes the Park City area. “It was very unusual. One showed up at the Outlet Mall near Kimball Junction last June,” says Swenson. “He wandered throughout Pinebrook and wound up in Summit Park. That’s the one we tried to catch and move but never could.”

Swenson says some area residents share the blame. He cautions people to never deliberately feed bears. “If they lose their fear of humans and become aggressive, we have no choice but to euthanize them. It’s a last resort.”

Pederson believes that the bears most often spotted in the Park City area are sub-adults — 1- and 2-year old bears run off by mothers who emerge from hibernation with new babies in tow. “They’re young, confused and hungry,” he explains. “When they wander into town and find food in unsecured garbage cans, dumpsters, or even garages, they keep coming back.”

Around town, Swenson counsels people to keep a tighter reign on their trash. “Don’t leave your garbage can out on the street all week. That’s like advertising to the bears.” Surprisingly, he says dirty barbeque grills are also a problem. “Bears can smell them a mile away. Clean your grill after you use it, and you won’t have bear problems.”

Some biologists speculate that the bear population in Utah is increasing. State wildlife officials, citing a lack of data, won’t provide a number, but it’s safe to say there are several hundred bears in the state. Pederson believes black bears have been on the comeback since the mid-1970s, when President Nixon banned the use of “1080,” a virulent poison that was scattered indiscriminately by federal hunters to control predator populations.

Pederson points to the results of a population study he’s conducting in a 100-square-mile area near Kamas, less than 20 miles from Park City. Through the first four years of the study, he and his research crew have identified 34 individual bears in this 10-square-mile area. “That’s a lot of bears, a lot more that we expected to find,” he admits.

Both Pederson and Swenson urge area residents to be extremely cautious around black bears. Their mantra: Keep your distance, keep a clean camp, keep your trash secure and, above all, don’t feed them. “Black bears are beautiful, amazing animals,” concludes Pederson. “We need to do everything we can to keep them wild.”

The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources publishes a brochure called, ”Safety in Cougar and Bear Country,” available online at wildlife.utah.gov. You can read more about black bears on that Web site, or on the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Web site, fws.gov.

Steve Phillips was media coordinator for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. Now retired, he works as a freelance writer, actor and hot air balloon pilot/instructor.