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NATURE

Grizzly bear 'troublemakers' get second chance at sanctuary

grizzly
Visitors to Yellowstone National Park are guaranteed to see a grizzly bear at the Grizzly Discovery Center, just outside the park in Cody, Wyoming

 
VIDEO
CNN's Jennie Garlington visits the Grizzly Discovery Center just outside of Yellowstone National Park
Windows Media 28K 80K

September 18, 1999
Web posted at: 12:27 p.m. EDT (1627 GMT)

CODY, Wyoming (CNN) -- Just outside the gates of Yellowstone National Park is a place where nuisance grizzly bears are given a second chance at life.

These are bears that repeatedly moved into populated areas in search of food, or the orphans of these so-called troublemakers.

Yellowstone is one of the last remaining North American strongholds of the grizzly bear, which once roamed as far south as Mexico. The bears have been protected inside the park for more than 100 years.

But some of the bears from the park had been wandering into populated areas in search of food. They adapted so well to human food sources that they began to beg at the roadsides where tourists rushed to feed them. As a result, visitors were sometimes injured and, subsequently, the wayward bears had to be killed.

The Grizzly Discovery Center opened in 1993 in an effort to reverse the bears' tendency to seek out human-originated food -- scraps and garbage left behind by campers -- instead of going after their own food sources like elk, trout or the carcasses of dead animals.

The center gives visitors the opportunity to view the bears under carefully controlled and monitored conditions. More than 175,000 visitors come to the sanctuary each year.

The center currently houses eight bears, along with a gray wolf pack. The largest bear was born in captivity in February 1990. The oldest, born in 1989, was brought down from Denali National Park in Alaska.

The facility hopes to add two more habitats, which would allow room for 16 more bears.

Yellowstone is home to at least 200 grizzly bears, including 144 cubs born in the last three years, according to park reports.

Correspondent Jennie Garlington contributed to this report.



RELATED STORIES:
Plan jeopardizes grizzlies, groups say
August 18, 1999
Development threatens Yellowstone grizzlies, group says
May 28, 1999
Scientists to analyze species recovery plans
May 12, 1999
Grizzly population denied more protection
April 27, 1999
Hungry bears prefer meals in imported cars
January 19, 1999
Is the Endangered Species Act effective?
December 22, 1998

RELATED SITES:
Endangered Species
DEFENDERS OF WILDLIFE
Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee
Endangered Species in the National Parks
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