When dozens of polar bears descend upon the northern Russian archipelago of Novaya Zemlya, no one was sure what to do. The bears entered homes and public buildings, and people were afraid to go outside. But polar bears are an endangered species, and the federal government has refused to issue licenses to shoot them (thankfully). Effective, non-lethal methods for preventing human-bear conflict are limited, but one biologist in Montana seems to have found the answer. The biologist has trained a special breed of dogs to be “bear shepherds” that bark and scare away bears when they get too close to human settlements and to condition them to steer clear. Since then, law enforcement and wildlife agencies in the United States and Canada increasingly have begun turning to dogs as an alternative to keep bears away. Bear dogs now work with wildlife and land managers in the states of Washington and Nevada, as well as Alberta, Canada, and even in Japan. Sure, it may not be nice to scare bears, but it’s for their own good.
To prevent human-bear conflict, wildlife rangers are turning to dogs
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