Bears Take Over Yosemite National Park

While we’re stuck at home, Yosemite’s bear population is thriving.

Thanks to SFGATE for letting us know that Yosemite’s bears have come out of hibernation and are reclaiming their land in the park. Park rangers have reported that there’s been four times as many bears seen in the park lately.

Yosemite is home to about 300-500 black bears. Though there hasn’t been an increase in their population since the park closure, bears have been seen more frequently than usual, likely due to the absence of visitors in Yosemite Valley.

Yosemite National Park’s Live Bear Videos

Check out Yosemite National Park’s Livestream as Wildlife biologist Ranger Katie showed how Yosemite‘s bear team uses radio collars to track some of the park’s bears and picked up the signal of a large male bear in the meadow nearby.

Shortly afterward, that same bear was caught on camera by a volunteer, who watched from the window of the Rangers’ Club as it climbed up a nearby tree. The bear sat high on a branch for a little while and then struggled to decide how to safely get back down, making this one of the more entertaining wildlife sightings the park rangers have seen this spring. Watch the video.

No longer feeling threatened, the bears are moving back into the open valley. Bears have been active in Yosemite Valley lately; check out this other video of a bear enjoying spring grass.

Learn more about Yosemite’s black bears and see more from what’s happening in the park, visit their social media pages.