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Posted by Ballpark Frank (64.79.35.96) on 09:22:27 06/04/21
In Reply to: List of Bears? posted by TheJilly
TheJilly,
I am not aware of such a list. In fact, in the 25 or more years that I have been following Yellowstone National Park via social media, I don't think I have ever seen a comprehensive list of notorious critters and where they are usually observed. The closest thing to an exception might be a few times when someone listed the tagged bull elk that were dominating the scene in Mammoth during the rut years ago, when those bulls had single digit numbers. Even then, the lists that I saw only contained 2 or 3 of the most renowned bulls.
I can think of any number of reasons why the lists you are envisioning are not published, if they in fact exist anywhere other than in people's heads. Perhaps the most important reason is that those who have the information in their heads are fiercely protective of these superstars, and do not want the information readily available to poachers or trophy hunters. Another reason would be that the publishing of such a list would contribute greatly to the frequency and size of bear jams on park roads, which would only make it more difficult for those in the know to see those well known bears. I would expect that professional wildlife photographers and videographers would be the last to publish such a list, because it would threaten their ability to make a living.
We have seen significant backlash over the years when someone starts talking on social media about special places that are only known to a small number of individuals. The best example of how such careless talk can boomerang on the entire community of Yellowstone or Grand Teton fans is what we have seen happen over time with access to backcountry thermal areas in Yellowstone. Talk about "loose lips sink ships". Progressively over time we have seen one area after another closed to ALL visitation, thanks to incidents of park visitors with little or no training in the requisite safety practices necessary when in a backcountry thermal area getting injured or simply stressing the resource via their careless behavior. If I were to publish any Yellowstone list, it would be a lengthy list of backcountry thermal area closures as a reminder to everyone what can happen when you shine a bright light on a special place.
Ballpark
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