Don't forget to
check out our WebCams area for some really nice
cams. Two of our favorites: The "Hollywood
Sign" Cam and the Grand Canyon Cam.
SPOTLIGHT:
Just Imagine ~ Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center
(West Yellowstone, Montana)
Imagine you are a female
grizzly bear. Huckleberries are one of your favorite foods. In
fact, you find an excellent huckleberry patch right next to a
popular human hiking trail. None of the humans ever bother you,
and you eventually lose your fear of them. After a while, you
wander down to the nearest town. They have a golf course there
with fresh green grass to eat. Once in town, you discover many
more wonders.
Humans leave dog food on their porches, birdseed
in their feeders, and leftovers in their garbage bins. The town
is a bear utopia. The human wildlife managers try their best to
teach you to find natural foods. In fact, they relocate you to a
distant area several times. But you use your incredible sense of
smell to find your way back to the town - every time.
Eventually, it is just not safe for the humans in town, or for
you, to stay there. Because you have now been labeled a
"nuisance" bear, the bear managers have to put you somewhere -
but where will you go?
At the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery
Center, in West Yellowstone, Montana, our mission is to give people the
opportunity to observe, learn about, and ultimately appreciate grizzly
bears and gray wolves. The grizzly bears that live here arrived for one
of two reasons: either they were orphaned because their mothers were
"nuisance" bears, or they were "nuisance" bears themselves. For these
eight bears the Center provides an alternative habitat where people can
view them safely and learn about their experiences in the wild. It is
also a great opportunity to teach and promote safety in bear country.
The bears at the Center bears are already experts at obtaining human
food sources. On occasion they will test "bear-proof" containers for the
companies that make them. Spending an hour in the bear habitat unscathed
is the only way to truly test how "bear-proof" a container is.
When wolves were reintroduced into
Yellowstone National Park in 1995, their presence has caused a lot of
controversy. Although the wolves at the center were born in captivity,
they still function very similarly to a wild pack. This gives visitors a
chance to view the pack social behavior and learn more about these
animals. Watching wolves howl in harmony is definitely an event that
should not be missed!
During the summer, the Grizzly and
Wolf Discovery Center is open 8 AM to 8:30 PM. We are located in West
Yellowstone, just outside the west entrance to Yellowstone National
Park. Please visit our website at
www.grizzlydiscoveryctr.org or call us at 800-257-2570 for more
information.
Information submitted
by:
Grizzly
& Wolf Discovery Center
201 S. Canyon
West Yellowstone, Montana 59758 406-646-7001 | 800-257-2570 Photos courtesy of Len Tillim
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