Respect Wildlife

Be Bear Aware

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Bears can be anywhere. Assume their presence. Avoiding a conflict is easier than dealing with one. 

• Always keep a safe distance from wildlife. Never intentionally get close to a bear.
• Stay alert and look for bear activity, especially where visibility or hearing is limited (woods, bushy areas, streams).
• Travel in a group. Groups of people are usually noisier and less likely to surprise bears.
• Make noise by talking or clapping, especially when visibility or hearing are limited.
• Carry bear spray in an accessible place and know how to use it.
• Avoid traveling at night, dawn, or dusk.
• Avoid carcass sites and evidence of carcasses (such as groups of scavenger birds).
• Anyone moving quickly (i.e. mountain biker, trail runner) is at a higher risk of surprising a bear.

Keep food and other attractants away from bears. 

• Never feed wildlife, especially bears. Bears that become food conditioned lose their natural foraging behavior and pose a threat to human safety.
• Bears are curious and food driven.
• Feeding bears puts people and bears at risk.
• Securing food and garbage means keeping it in an approved bear resistant container (locked car, bear box, bear resistant garbage can, etc.).
• Learn more about Bear Resistant Products.

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Be prepared to handle a bear encounter. 

• During an encounter with a bear:
  • Never run away. You cannot outrun a bear. Running may trigger a bear to chase.
  • Never approach a bear.
• In any bear encounter, your behavior matters. Bears respond to your actions. Both grizzly bears and black bears pose a risk. The bear’s behavior should determine your response. Different situations call for different responses.
• Carry bear spray in an accessible place and know how to use it.
• Learn more about Bear Spray. 

Learn more about being Bear Aware and recreating safely in bear country at:

• U. S. Forest Service Be Bear Aware
• Hiking and Camping in Bear Country
• Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee

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Know how to identify the difference between a grizzly and a black bear? Keep this Bear Identification card handy to help you learn the differences! To learn more about identifying the differences between black bears and grizzly bears, go to Idaho Fish & Game's Bear Identification Program webpage.