Editor’s Note: There are no photos of this bear.
MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS, Wyo. — Yellowstone National Park (YNP) issued a press release announcing its first officially recorded grizzly bear sighting of 2024 occurred on March 3.
An unofficial sighting was documented by a wildlife watcher in the Hayden Valley on March 8, but YNP’s statement confirms the earliest sighting of a grizzly five days earlier.
According to the press release, visitors skiing on the Specimen Ridge Trail in the north-central part of the park observed the bear on March 3. The timing of this sighting trends earlier than in years past. In 2020, 2022 and 2023, the first YNP grizzly of the year was spotted on March 7. In 2021, the first sighting was logged on March 13.
Male grizzlies come out of hibernation in early March. Females with cubs emerge in April and early May. When bears emerge from hibernation, they look for food and often feed on elk and bison that died over the winter. Bears will react aggressively to encounters with people when feeding on carcasses.
All of Yellowstone National Park is bear country: from the deepest backcountry to the boardwalks around Old Faithful.
Bear spray has proven effective in deterring bears defending cubs and food sources. It can also reduce the number of bears killed by people in self-defense. While firearms are allowed in the park, the discharge of a firearm by visitors is a violation of park regulations.
The park restricts certain visitor activities in locations where there is a high density of bears, along with elk and bison carcasses. Restrictions will begin in some bear management areas on March 10.
