Grizzly Bears Reintroduced to Sequoia National Park

Years of behind-the-scenes work paid off when the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the United States Bureau of Reclamation and the Nationial Park Service jointly announced that they had reintroduced four grizzly bears into Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Parks. The four Grizzlies were quietly placed in various undisclosed locations in early November 2023.  In addition to its isolation, Sequoia-King’s Canyon National Park was selected for its abundance of available food sources preferred by grizzly bears such as deer, rodents, berries, and other forbs. The bears are vital to reset the ecological imbalance resulting from their elimination from California in 1922.

The long process to get grizzlies back to California was due to numerous lawsuits. Environmental groups were concerned that there would be insufficient genetic variation if only a small number of bears were introduced. Farmers who were worried about the loss of cattle and sheep made up the bulk of the remaining lawsuits. These issues were slowly resolved.

To minimize the potential for inbreeding, six Grizzly’s will be introduced every ten to twelve months for the next twenty years with the eventual goal of creating a sustainable and genetically diverse grizzly population of approximately three hundred bears. Both Montana and Colorado have offered to provide Grizzly’s for the California Reintroduction Project as both states have a grizzly bear surplus. Yosemite and Lassen National Parks have been listed as the next sites for grizzly reintroduction. Public hearings are still to be scheduled for those parks.

When asked about the danger to hikers and campers in the area, Teddy Paddington, a spokesperson for the National Park Service said, “We anticipate losing about the same number of campers and hikers to grizzly predation as seen in Colorado or Montana, about two per year. It is an expected sacrifice built into the master plan to reintroduce this keystone species back in California. It’s no different statistically than being bitten by a shark while surfing or swimming in the ocean. Plus the bears have all been fitted with GPS collars to monitor their locations so that we can attempt to minimize human contact with the bears."

Hikers and campers will be required to sign waivers holding the National Park Service blameless should there be any untoward interaction with the newly reintroduced grizzly bears.

More information about the Grizzly Reintroduction Project is available on their website: www.grizzlyreintro.gov.