At Many Glacier, a food-conditioned grizzly eats trout off a table; hard sided camping only now

Glacier National Park announced today that the Many Glacier campground would go to hard-sided camping only after a grizzly bear jumped up on a picnic table there Friday about 10:30 a.m. and ate two trout being prepared for a meal, even though the campers sprayed it with bear spray.

The small bear, weighing about 150 pounds, crossed a stream and entered the camp while the campers were cleaning two brook trout. One camper sprayed the bear from about 15 feet away with pepper spray, but the bear was undeterred.

It also sniffed, pawed, and bit two nearby backpacks, the Park said in a release.

Park rangers responded and used hazing techniques to encourage the bear to move out of the campground. Prior to its departure, it dug into two fire pits, sniffed picnic tables, a tent, and an RV with visitors inside, the Park said.

Hard sided camping means no tents and soft-sided campers, though camper vehicles such as VW buses and pickup trucks with small canvas pop-ups are allowed as long as the canvas is not exposed.

Park rangers believe the bear is food conditioned, meaning it has gotten into human food before and relates humans as a food source. In 1976, a food conditioned grizzly dragged a woman out of her tent at the Many Glacier campground and killed her.

The park is attempting to trap the grizzly bear for further management action, it said, which means the bear will be either moved to a zoo or killed.

The Park reminds visitors that all food in Glacier must be secured. Don’t burn trash or food scraps; secure food in a vehicle or hard-sided storage. While camping in the backcountry, food must be prepared in the food preparation area and food items must be hung on the food poles or in the storage lockers. Never eat in your tent. Garbage must be packed out of the backcountry and put in secure garbage containers in the front country.

Once bears have successfully obtained unnatural food from people or become accustomed to foraging in developed areas, it is very difficult to change their behavior to return to wild areas and natural food sources, rangers note. Once they have received a human food reward, they often become a safety hazard as they become increasingly aggressive seeking out and obtaining subsequent food rewards.