YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. — The season's first grizzly bear has emerged from hibernation at Yellowstone National Park, and it appears one of its first tasks was to seek out a good meal.
The park said on Tuesday, a wildlife biologist on a radio telemetry flight observed the first grizzly bear of 2023 to emerge from hibernation.
The adult bear, estimated at 300 to 350 pounds, was spotted near the remains of a bison carcass in Pelican Valley, in the central-eastern part of the park.
The park said male grizzlies come out of hibernation in early March. Females with cubs emerge in April and early May.
When bears emerge from hibernation, the park said, they look for food and often feed on elk and bison that died over the winter.
The first bear sighting of 2022 at Yellowstone also happened on March 7.
The park said bears will sometimes react aggressively to encounters with people while they're eating.
“Spring visitors skiing, snowshoeing, or hiking in Yellowstone National Park are reminded to carry bear spray and be especially alert for bears near carcasses and areas with early spring green-up. These are the first foods sought out by grizzlies after emerging from hibernations,” Kerry Gunther, the park's bear management biologist, said in a news release.
All of Yellowstone National Park is bear country. The park restricts certain visitor activities in locations where there is a high density of bears, along with elk and bison carcasses. Restrictions will begin in some bear management areas on Friday.
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