Wildlife filmmaker Shane Moore has been documenting the natural world for nearly three decades, producing distinctive and detailed studies of complex ecological problems around the world. In NATURE’s The Good, the Bad, and the Grizzly, Moore turns his lens on the mighty grizzly bears that inhabit Yellowstone National Park and surrounding lands. Once threatened with extinction, Yellowstone’s grizzlies have now rebounded — a success that has brought its own set of problems, from conflicts with people to the need for adequate room to roam. Moore recently discussed these and other grizzly bear issues from his home in Jackson Hole, Wyoming:

You’ve filmed grizzly bears a great deal in the past. Did anything surprise you while making this film?

I was surprised by the level of conflict with grizzlies that people in the area are dealing with on a regular basis. I knew there were problems, but I didn’t think they were so widespread. But the bears are everywhere now. [Government biologists] recently had to capture six bears involved in conflict situations in a single day — that’s some kind of a record, and the problem seems to be growing.

What happens to these “problem” bears?

Well, female bears are very valued, so they get “three strikes.” The biologists will try to move them out of conflict situations three times. But males typically get two strikes, and just one if they are doing something considered very dangerous to humans. If it is a serious problem, those bears will be euthanized.

How have these conflicts influenced local views on the proposal to delist the grizzly as endangered?

A lot of locals are looking at this trend and saying: “These bears are endangered? Give me a break.” But if you look at the issue from the other side and consider the potential problems with the future food supply for the bears, the picture looks pretty grim. So there are strong views on both sides.

What would you do?

I want to see bears do well, but I’m not certain about how to do that. If you don’t delist them, the local frustration level is going to reach the breaking point. There is going to be a lot of “shooting, shoveling, and shutting up” going on [illegally killing bears and burying them]. So it’s a really tough call. I don’t think delisting would be the end of the world, since the states will continue to work together, and they have put a lot of thought into protection plans. But there could be problems [such as] greater development, logging, and limited hunting. That is hot button issue for a lot of people.

Outside of the policy issues, what captured your attention in making this film?

Well, the moth story still blows me away. I hadn’t seen any footage of [the bears foraging on mountain peaks for the army cutworm moths]. I’m still astounded at how the bears aggregate on these mountain peaks, sometimes coming from about a thousand miles away to feed on these insects.

How did you find those places?

It wasn’t easy. These sites are top secret, nobody divulges them for good reason — you don’t want lots of people there disrupting the bears. So we had to do a lot of our own exploration. We’d climb up with heavy backpacks loaded with all of our equipment, and start looking. Soon, we figured out what makes a moth site work. But it was hard to get the search image right; you are looking for a bear on these big, virtually lifeless rocky slopes. They hole up during the day, and then start coming out in the evening. And when they do… Whew! We saw 15 bears on a single peak. It was hard to capture that on film.

Could you get close?

About a quarter of a mile away. And we’d always stay downwind. But I think it’s worth backing off and being happy with yourself for not causing a big disturbance for the bears. It feels like a sanctuary up there.

Any other surprises besides the moths?

The elk hunting story continues to fascinate me — that the carcasses hunters leave behind can be such a key source of food was really interesting.

Anything you weren’t able to capture the way you wanted to?

Well, I wanted to film the bears eating the four key foods, and we did pretty well. But I wanted to do a little better with the white bark pine seed story. It is so challenging to work in those thick forests; they are very difficult places to work. In the backcountry the biggest challenge is not to frighten the bears.

Before visiting Yellowstone National Park or “bear country” familiarize yourself with safety precautions in order to avoid bear encounters. “Run for your life” may seem like common sense if a grizzly approaches you, but such action is highly unlikely to foil an attack. The recommended steps are not easy to follow, but they offer the best chance for survival. Here’s what the experts say:

If you encounter a grizzly, do not run.

Avoid direct eye contact.

Walk away slowly, if the bear is not approaching.

If the bear charges, stand your ground (you cannot outrun it).

Don’t scream or yell. Speak in a soft monotone voice and wave your arms to let the animal know you are human. If you have pepper spray, prepare to use it.

If the grizzly charges to within 25 feet of where you’re standing, use the spray.

If the animal makes contact, curl up into a ball on your side, or lie flat on your stomach.

Try not to panic; remain as quiet as possible until the attack ends.

While in bear country, be aware that you may encounter a bear at any time.

Be sure the bear has left the area before getting up to seek help.

While in bear country, be aware that you may encounter a bear at any time.

Some other interesting things about grizzlies:

• Most human injuries from grizzly bears are caused by females acting aggressively to protect their young.

• Grizzlies are omnivores; they will eat almost anything. Although a large part of their diet is vegetation, grizzlies will also kill and eat large and small animals.

• Fewer than 1,100 grizzlies exist in the lower 48 states, in 5 populations in Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and Washington. An estimated 500 to 600 grizzlies populate the Greater Yellowstone area.

• Grizzlies are North America’s slowest reproducing land mammal. A female may not have her first litter until she is 5 or 6 years old, after which she will then typically produce two cubs every 2.5 years. Cubs from the same litter can be from different fathers. Grizzlies have a natural life span of 30 years or more.

After a decades-long comeback, the grizzly bears of Yellowstone National Park appear to be thriving. Should they now be removed from the protection of the Endangered Species Act? This question has provoked one of the most emotionally charged wildlife controversies in America today.

In the mid-20th century, Yellowstone’s grizzlies had been reduced to a relatively small number of bears that had stopped hunting and were living on trash intentionally left by the park’s attendants. In 1972, park officials reversed their policy, and the garbage dumps were closed.

Today, after 30 years of protection under the Endangered Species Act, grizzlies have learned to hunt once again, and have made a resounding return, with an estimated 600 thriving in the 17,000 square miles that comprise the Greater Yellowstone area.

With the rising bear population, however, comes conflict, as the grizzlies interact more and more with encroaching humanity — roaming in residential areas, raiding dumpsters, attacking livestock, and unknowingly inspiring tourists to take chances on roads and trails so they can glimpse the great bear.

In short, the success of grizzly restoration has spawned a complex web of social and environmental issues that many disagree upon. While some lawmakers argue that grizzlies should be delisted as an endangered species, others believe this would be a premature maneuver.

Discover the complex issue of grizzly bear management and conservation from ranchers, conservationists, and government officials who share their stories and insights on The Good, the Bad, and the Grizzly.

To order a copy of The Good, the Bad, and the Grizzly, visit the NATURE Shop.

Online content for The Good, the Bad, and the Grizzly was originally posted November, 2004.

In the Valley of the Wolves premiered November 2007.

The epic history of the Druids, one of more than a dozen packs now occupying the 2.2 million acres of Yellowstone, is documented in NATURE’s In the Valley of the Wolves, was produced and shot in High Definition by Emmy-award winning filmmaker Bob Landis.

On the Web site for In the Valley of the Wolves, you’ll learn how the successful reintroduction of Yellowstone’s apex predator has changed the entire ecosystem of the park, and about the threats that these majestic animals continue to face on their road to recovery.

Watch an online-exclusive video. In this video, Emmy Award-winning wildlife cinematographer Bob Landis discusses the making of the film, including the ideal circumstances for filming a predation scene; the importance of spending a vast amount of time in the field; the uniqueness of Yellowstone’s Druid wolf pack, and more.

To order a copy of In the Valley of the Wolves, visit the NATURE Shop.

Online content for In the Valley of the Wolves was originally posted November 2007.

Stretching across more than 2.2 million acres of Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho is one of the greatest expanses of unspoiled nature and wildlife anywhere on Earth — Yellowstone National Park. Designated America’s first national park in 1872, Yellowstone now receives almost three million visitors each year. Yet only a small fraction of those who glimpse the park’s stunning vistas, geological wonders, and animal residents do so during the winter months, a time when nature’s inhospitality is matched only by its serenity.

NATURE follows in the snowy footprints of Yellowstone’s red foxes, spies on the predatory warfare of wolves and elk, and climbs into the den of a grizzly bear that gives birth to two cubs while deep in hibernation. In addition to mesmerizing footage of landscapes and wildlife, trail alongside author and photographer Tom Murphy, who has been coming to Yellowstone for the past 26 winters, camping and photographing amid the silence and solitude of the park. And go behind the scenes with filmmaker Shane Moore to find out how he kept up with Murphy during an at times harrowing trek, reminiscent of the legendary John Colter’s first journey into the park nearly two hundred years ago.

To order a copy of Christmas in Yellowstone, please visit the NATURE Shop.

Online content for Christmas in Yellowstone was originally posted November 2006.

Photo © Tom Murphy

By Louisa Willcox, NRDC

Endangered species protections were removed from the Yellowstone grizzly bear population in April 2007.  The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and other conservation organizations immediately filed a lawsuit in federal district court in Idaho challenging this decision.  NRDC and others argue that: (1) grizzlies are still threatened by development and loss of key natural foods such as whitebark pine; and, (2) regulatory mechanisms, including state and federal plans, are inadequate to maintain the population.  The briefing in this case begins in August 2008; it will likely take several years to resolve.

Meanwhile, about 30 bears have been killed in the Greater Yellowstone by humans, as of July 2008.  Most grizzly bears do not die of natural causes: humans kill them.  In the summer of 2007, the allowable human-caused mortality level was nearly breached for female grizzly bears, which are especially important to the survival of the population.  (If one more female had been killed, the allowable thresholds would have been violated).  A record number of human maulings by grizzlies also occurred, many during the fall 2007 big game hunting season.  A number of the hunters were not carrying bear pepper spray, a known effective deterrent in grizzly conflict situations.

Since the film was completed, the prognosis for whitebark pine has significantly worsened.  New models by Forest Service experts predict that whitebark pine may become functionally extinct in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem in the next seven to ten years.  Since about 2001, whitebark pine has been suffering unprecedented attacks by mountain pine beetle, which have been able to survive in these high-elevation forests because of warming temperatures.  Also, the infection rates of a non-native pathogen, white pine blister rust, have also been increasing in whitebark pine; blister rust is as lethal to whitebark pine as the chestnut blight is to the chestnut tree.

Attention is turning increasingly toward restoration of whitebark pine using cones selected from trees determined to be genetically resistant to the rust.  But since whitebark pine trees do not produce cones until they are at least 50 years old, such efforts will not likely help the grizzly bear in the near term future.  There is no known substitute food of similar quality for grizzly bears in the later summer and fall, when bears need to fatten up for winter.

If whitebark pine declines as predicted, grizzly female reproductive success will drop, and human-caused mortality rates will increase as bears are forced to forage in lower elevation habitat to search for food.  Here in these lower areas, human development and subdivision is escalating.  Some counties around Yellowstone Park are doubling in population every six to seven years.  Instead of living in towns, many new arrivals seek to build homes in river bottoms and near national forest lands — the best bear habitat.  The pattern and nature of these developments will make it even more difficult for grizzly bears to access alternative foods as whitebark pine declines.

In addition, threats from energy development are increasing in and around key habitats that grizzly bears will need to use to offset the anticipated loss of whitebark pine in the core of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.  Of particular concern is natural gas development in Wyoming’s upper Green River area.  Also, new high-voltage energy transmission lines are being proposed that would, if built, potentially sever Yellowstone’s grizzlies from other grizzly populations to the west and north — leaving Yellowstone grizzlies isolated forever.  This development would exacerbate the existing problems related to the loss of genetic health of Yellowstone grizzly bears following 100 years of isolation.

In the delisting rule, the federal government acknowledged the genetic problems facing the Yellowstone grizzly, and proposed to import one to two bears every ten years to add to the grizzly gene pool.  Citing numerous scientific studies, conservation organizations argue that the genetic health of Yellowstone’s grizzlies could be maintained naturally by connecting Yellowstone grizzlies through natural corridors.  Reliance on ongoing, expensive, artificial importation of grizzly bears does not constitute long-term recovery.  The population must be naturally self-sustaining to be recovered.

Lasting recovery of Yellowstone grizzlies is within our reach, but only if we: (1) act in ways that don’t promote unnecessary conflicts or grizzly bear deaths; (2) plan ahead to accommodate the anticipated loss of key grizzly bear foods from global warming and disease, including whitebark pine, army cutworm moths, and cutthroat trout; and (3) work to prevent unnecessary fragmentation and loss of key habitat, and to ensure that ecological connections between Yellowstone and other grizzly populations are protected.

Grizzlies in and around our nation’s oldest park deserve our best efforts to ensure that they will be here for the enjoyment of future generations.  In light of shrinking habitat and new threats from global warming, grizzly protections should be redoubled — not removed.