The Problem Bear

Don't know if this is a true story, or a just a 'camping story.'  Either way it's fun, and heard it while hiking with the Sierra Club in Virginia years ago. 

Yellowstone had a bear problem.  The bears were coming into contact with people far too frequently.  For the safety of the park visitors, they were forced to tranquilize and relocate some of these bears.  Unfortunately, people were often part of the problem.  They were an easy source of food.  Some campers would leave food out, others driving through happy to see a bear, would feed them right from the car.  This was not only dangerous, but it encouraged bears to seek out people who may or may not have food.  Particular 'problem' bears that park rangers had relocated would actually return to the scene of the crime seeking out more food.

The trouble with these repeat offenders was that they were smart, they learned how to not get caught.  The rangers actually believed that many of these bears recognized the park rangers vehicles and uniforms and would flee at first sight.  This meant the rangers needed to be covert, so they wore civilian clothes and drove an unmarked vehicle, and worked in teams for these particularly difficult cases.

One day, two rangers found their problem bear and were able to shoot him with a dart from their unmarked vehicle.  They waited several minutes for the tranquilizers to kick in, as another group of rangers were radioed in to pick up the bear.  As they waited, a park visitor pulled up to get a closer look at the bear they just spotted.  The rangers watched as this fellow rolled down his window down and handed the grateful bear an apple.  The bear took a bite, stumbled backward, and collapsed on the side of the road.  The team of rangers sped in in their official relocation vehicle, jumped out, put the bear in a cage, and then loaded the cage into the truck. 

The visitor to the park looked on in bewilderment, "What happened?"

A ranger from the second team replied as they pulled away, "That's why the sign says, 'Don't feed the bears!"

After the first pair watched events unfold, one fellow said, "Shouldn't we give him a ticket for feeding the bear?"

"No.  He'll never feed another bear again."