08/25/2026
Why can't we just relocate and/or feed the bears up in the mountains? These are valid questions when facing the struggling bears that are visiting towns.
The problem is Drought: Humans can’t influence nature, and this drought is beyond our control. What we can control is how we deal with the bears. Many of these bears in town, if they did not encounter a food source, would probably come down for water and then return to the mountains. They may struggle, but would likely find some food to get by. Instead, they find an easy food source around humans and become habituated. A not small percentage of those habituated bears will be hit by cars or escalate and start breaking into houses and be killed. There have already been several unfortunate bears killed in northern New Mexico this year.
Why can't we feed the bears up in the mountains like CPW does with elk and deer during hard winters? This may seem like a perfect solution at first glance, it just doesn't work the same as with deer and elk. Deer and elk are herd animals, so you can bring food into one location and they will share with minimal stress and conflict. They are already naturally concentrated together, so feeding them in one location doesn't really change their behavior.
Also, the hay they are fed doesn't spoil and become dangerous if they don't eat it immediately and it isn't human food that they will find around houses later.
This has actually been attempted by other groups and at other locations in the past, but because bears are not community animals, a concentrated food source caused them to fight and injure each other because they are territorial. Concentrating bears at a feeding source can increase disease transmission, as they are not usually found in large groups and they defecate profusely everywhere they go. Additionally, for feeding in the mountains to help the bears that have come down into town, those bears would have to be trapped and relocated - more on that below.
Why don't we relocate all these bears back up into the mountains? This solution seems simple at first. But it is much more nuanced than many realize. Tranquilization and drug reactions can be unsafe and is avoided wherever possible. Bears that have been radio collared before relocation have been shown to move many miles a day to return to their original location, often not eating and putting themselves in danger on roads and other hazards they wouldn't normally encounter. Mother bears sometimes leave their cubs behind to die because of the stress of being abducted and dumped in unfamiliar territory. Imagine being abducted and placed in a random forest somewhere. Do you know where food and water are? What about predators? Are you smack in the middle of a dominant male's territory, and he will kill you when he finds you? How many hazards are between you and home? Unfortunately, relocation is rarely the happy ending we are looking for.
While we all wish there was a magic solution for the bears in a year like this, sometimes circumstances are out of our control. The real, actionable thing that we can do to help is keep bears from attributing food to humans by keeping trash and other attractants out of their reach so that they stay away from the extra dangers associated with being around humans.
