Your actions, when you see a bear or an elk in the wild, could result in human injury or the animal's death. How So?

When you feed wildlife, you are teaching the animals to associate humans with food. The animals become dependent on humans for their food which can eventually lead to the animal becoming aggressive and dangerous, and this may result in the injury of another park visitor or yourself as the animal searches for food.

No photograph is worth an animal's life or personal injury; therefore, stay away from the animals, and do not allow them to come close to you. By allowing a bear or elk to do so, you are training the animal to lose its fear of humans.

Don’t try to be a hero if an animal begins to approach you, carefully move away from it to the relative safety of your vehicle. Any animal that approaches you is not wanting to be your friend! Its motive is not friendship, and you may not like its motive. Keep in mind that animals in the park are not tame.

Are you aware that feeding, approaching, or disturbing park wildlife is a violation of federal regulations and can result in fines and arrest?

One of the laws protecting park wildlife states:

“Willfully approaching within 50 yards (150 feet), or any distance that disturbs or displaces bear or elk is prohibited." Additionally, feeding, touching, teasing, frightening, or intentionally disturbing any wildlife is prohibited.

If you can’t judge 50 yards then at least remember this fact.

If you get close enough to an animal that causes it to change its behavior, you are too close. A change in behavior includes the simple act of the animal slowly walking away from you. That animal is telling you that you are too close. Listen to it.

Even the big momma bears are cute, but bears are dying needlessly due to improper disposal of garbage and illegal feeding by park visitors. A bear has a remarkable sense of smell, and that sense many times lead it to human foods, such as in a picnic cooler, food left on a picnic table, garbage not disposed of properly, or food scraps thrown on the ground. Often, once a bear discovers human food or garbage, it eventually ends up dead.

It may leave the safety of the backcountry, panhandle along a road and eventually killed by a car. It may injure a visitor and be euthanized. We were staying in a cabin that bordered the park in Gatlinburg and forgot that we had left three small packets of instant oatmeal in our vehicle. We awoke the following morning to see momma and two cubs having a to-go breakfast in our SUV.

We called the police because the bears would not leave. They seemed to be afraid of nothing; however, they did leave a few seconds before the officer arrived. He explained that they would rip the door handles off of a car to get to something as small as a couple of peanut butter crackers.

I saw the bears two days later running behind a church in Gatlinburg.

I saw momma the following weekend on television. She made the local news, dead!

Please do your part in protecting black bears and other wildlife in the Great Smokies.

It's up to YOU to protect the park's wildlife. Here's how:

Resist the temptation to share your sandwich with a bear!

If you don't, you may be responsible for that bear's death!

Resist the temptation to get close to a bear!

If you don't, you may be responsible for that bear's death!

Please read. This is important safety information.

What Do I Do If I See A Bear?