Teacher's Guide - Bears Year 2000 and Beyond

Aversive Conditioning

When bears visit areas where people are, wardens try to make bears uncomfortable so that the bears will leave. Methods include making loud noises and shooting the animal with rubber bullets that cause pain but do not harm the animal.

Bear Jam
Some drivers pull over when they see bears at the side of the road. When many drivers do this at once it is called a bear jam.

Bear Spray
A spray made of cayenne pepper that is painful when sprayed into the eyes. Some hikers carry it in case they run into danger with a bear. It is only effective when the bear is very close and when the wind is blowing in the right direction.

Bluff Charge When a person gets too close to a bear, the bear might run up to the person as if it is going to attack, but stop just short of the person and turn away at the last moment. This is called bluff charging.

Carrion
The bodies of animal that die or are killed by other animals in the wild. Bears will eat carrion if they can find it.

Destroyed Sometimes, if an animal is considered a serious risk to people, it is put down or killed humanely. In other words, it is destroyed.

Ecosystem A community of plants and animals in their natural surroundings that rely on each other to survive.

Elevation Elevation means how high something is. In the mountains, the high elevations are the mountain peaks where nothing grows. The low elevations are the valleys at the bottoms of the mountains, where plants grow and people and many animals find what they need to survive.

Foraging Searching for food

Habitat The place or environment where an animal normally lives and finds what it needs to survive

Habituation Bears naturally prefer to live in the wilderness where there are few or no people. A habituated bear is one that often returns to places where there are lots of people, usually because it has learned it can get food there.

Home Range The territory or area that a bear travels in order to find the food, water, and shelter it needs to survive.

Nuisance Grounds An old name for a dump where garbage was left in open piles. The smell often attracted animals that came to eat people’s discarded leftovers.

Radio Collar Researchers sometimes put collars on wild bears. These collars have radios on them that send signals to the researchers telling them where the bear is. Researchers can learn a lot about bears by following their movements.

Relocation If a bear spends too much time in a place where lots of people are, wardens may decide that relocation is necessary. This means that the bear is taken far away to a place where there are few people and lots of wilderness.

Sow
A female bear

Tree Line

Trees don’t grow near the tops of high mountains because the soil they need to survive is not there. The point on the side of a mountain beyond which trees do not grow is called the tree line or timberline.

Introduction – Activities – Glossary – Guided Program
Whyte Museum – Bears: 2000 and Beyond Teacher's Guide

Aversive Conditioning	When bears visit areas where people are, wardens try to make bears uncomfortable so that the bears will leave. Methods include making loud noises and shooting the animal with rubber bullets that cause pain but do not harm the animal.
Bear Jam	Some drivers pull over when they see bears at the side of the road. When many drivers do this at once it is called a bear jam.
Bear Spray	A spray made of cayenne pepper that is painful when sprayed into the eyes. Some hikers carry it in case they run into danger with a bear. It is only effective when the bear is very close and when the wind is blowing in the right direction.
Bluff Charge	When a person gets too close to a bear, the bear might run up to the person as if it is going to attack, but stop just short of the person and turn away at the last moment. This is called bluff charging.
Carrion	The bodies of animal that die or are killed by other animals in the wild. Bears will eat carrion if they can find it.
Destroyed	Sometimes, if an animal is considered a serious risk to people, it is put down or killed humanely. In other words, it is destroyed.
Ecosystem	A community of plants and animals in their natural surroundings that rely on each other to survive.
Elevation	Elevation means how high something is. In the mountains, the high elevations are the mountain peaks where nothing grows. The low elevations are the valleys at the bottoms of the mountains, where plants grow and people and many animals find what they need to survive.
Foraging	Searching for food
Habitat	The place or environment where an animal normally lives and finds what it needs to survive
Habituation	Bears naturally prefer to live in the wilderness where there are few or no people. A habituated bear is one that often returns to places where there are lots of people, usually because it has learned it can get food there.
Home Range	The territory or area that a bear travels in order to find the food, water, and shelter it needs to survive.
Nuisance Grounds	An old name for a dump where garbage was left in open piles. The smell often attracted animals that came to eat people’s discarded leftovers.
Radio Collar	Researchers sometimes put collars on wild bears. These collars have radios on them that send signals to the researchers telling them where the bear is. Researchers can learn a lot about bears by following their movements.
Relocation	If a bear spends too much time in a place where lots of people are, wardens may decide that relocation is necessary. This means that the bear is taken far away to a place where there are few people and lots of wilderness.
Sow	A female bear
Tree Line	Trees don’t grow near the tops of high mountains because the soil they need to survive is not there. The point on the side of a mountain beyond which trees do not grow is called the tree line or timberline.