Bear Management

Bears largely live in areas affected by humans. In human-dominated areas where bears are present, bears are managed primarily for the safety of people and property. When it comes to preventing and addressing human-bear conflicts, bear managers use a variety of tools and tactics. Traditionally, wildlife management has focused on hunting, lethal control, and relocation to address conflicts—methods that don’t stop conflicts from happening in the long run. In today’s world, there are times when a bear has to be killed and removed from unhealthy and unsafe circumstances — but non-lethal management creates the opportunity to reduce and prevent human-bear conflicts, and develop coexistence between bears and people.

Government agency bear managers play a vital role in preventing human-bear conflicts by sharing expertise about how to safely recreate, live, and work in bear country. When conflicts do happen, they can get non-lethal tools on the ground to prevent future conflicts, teach bears to avoid negative behaviours in the future, and when necessary capture or relocate bears. Agency managers have legal authority over bears and with certain laws in place also people; they are focused on human safety and can take actions that others cannot.

In addition to bear managers who work for government agencies, today many other people work to “manage” bears in the sense of educating people about conflict prevention or by working directly with homeowners, ranchers and farmers, hunters, and others to implement tools and reduce the risk of conflict and human losses. Tribes, non-governmental organizations (nonprofits), professional associations, and community advocates play a major role in managing bears from this perspective. For many of these organizations, the goal is to help people stay safe but also keep bears alive and present in their native ecosystems.

Throughout this section of the Get Bear Smart website, learn more about the world of bear management, including how agency bear managers use non-lethal tactics to respond to conflicts and prevent future conflicts, why relocating bears isn’t a “silver bullet” solution when they get into attractants, and what to do when you’re concerned about a bear or a cub.

A note to bear managers

Information previously shared on this website on bear management was geared to wildlife professionals, including behaviour and communication, non-lethal management, capturing bears, diversionary feeding, habitat management, cub rehabilitation, and relocation, and this information has been archived. If you are looking for this information, please contact us.