Overview
- Biologists documented the bear on March 9 in Yellowstone’s northern backcountry as it scavenged a bull bison carcass.
- This marks the season’s first confirmed grizzly five days earlier than 2025 and consistent with recent early-March first sightings.
- Male grizzlies typically leave dens in early March, with females and cubs emerging later in April and May.
- Officials advise carrying and knowing how to use bear spray, keeping 100 yards from bears, traveling in groups, and avoiding dawn and dusk.
- An estimated 150–200 grizzlies live inside the park and more than 1,000 in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, with the species still listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act after a decades-long recovery.