Source: Nature: "The Good, the Bad, and the Grizzly"
Major corporate support for the Nature collection was provided by Canon U.S.A. and SC Johnson. Additional support was provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the nation’s public television stations.
Bear Necessities
(Video)
Bears' Lunch Counter
(Video)
Bears in the Schoolyard
(Video)
This is Their Land
(Video)
National K -12 Subject:
Lesson Plans Using this Resource:
The recent removal of the grizzly bear from the endangered species list prompted the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and other conservation organizations to immediately file a lawsuit in federal district court in Idaho to challenge this decision. It is their belief that grizzlies are still threatened by development and loss of key natural foods. They also feel that regulatory mechanisms, including state and federal plans, are not adequate enough to maintain the population. This video segment from Nature presents both sides of the debate on the whether or not to give grizzly bears endangered species protection status.
Download and ShareTranscript (Document)
Grizzly bears were once scarce in Yellowstone National Park and on their way to extinction. After becoming designated as an Endangered Species over three decades ago, governmental protections have allowed these natural predators to make a comeback. But the grizzly’s success has come at a destructive and often dangerous price for people living nearby. Maintaining a delicate balance between humans and the resurgent grizzlies continues to challenge conservationists today.
But conflicts with bears are escalating all around the Yellowstone ecosystem. With bears in back yards threatening both people and livestock – do bears still need our protection?
Steve French: I look at having this many bear problems as success of recovery efforts. We’re not trying to save the bears – we’re trying to conserve the bear population in its habitat.
After thirty years, many think the Endangered Species Act has done its job and it’s time to de-list the grizzly.
Chris Servheen: The Endangered Species Act is a very dynamic law that tells us to fix what’s been broken with these species so they don’t need to be listed under the law anymore. And that’s how we operate. We work to get the problems fixed and to make sure the bears are going to be okay and then turn over the management to other agencies. So that’s a whole job for us is to get to recovery and delisting.
Louisa Wilcox: Delisting the grizzly bear means renewing a hunt which was stopped in 1975 when the animal was listed, and allowing development pressures to continue on lands outside the Park. We’re particularly concerned about … why take a chance with the future of an animal that has no where else to go?
Loading Standards
Background Essay
Print Background Essay