UCSC - Frontiers in Black Bear Ecology

A new study published by UCSC reveals just how much human food has contributed to the diet of Native Yosemite black bears over the past century.

Researchers at UCSC were able to estimate the proportion of human-derived food in bears' diets by analyzing chemical isotopes in hair and bone samples. The results, published in the March issue of Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, show how bears' diets have changed over the years as the National Park Service took different approaches to managing bears and people in Yosemite.  For more information, check out this article!