Yosemite bears’ car of choice: the minivan

The jury is still out on whether gentlemen prefer blonds. But in the unguarded campgrounds and parking lots of Yosemite National Park, black bears prefer minivans.

That’s the conclusion of a new study in the Journal of Mammalogy, drawn from seven years of park data on bear-related break-ins.

Analyzing reports on 908 Yosemite Valley vehicle break-ins, authors Stewart W. Breck, Nathan Lance and Victoria Seher classified automobiles in nine categories. They found that 26% of the victimized vehicles were minivans, 22.5% were sport-utility vehicles, 17.1% were small cars, 13.7% were sedans, 11.9% were trucks, and the remaining targets were split among other types.

Comparing those numbers with figures on the types of vehicles that visited the park in 2004-05, the authors found that only minivans were targeted at disproportionately high rates. (Most of the vehicles broken into, minivans and otherwise, contained evidence of available food.)
The authors offer four possible reasons, beginning with one that won’t surprise many parents of small children. Perhaps, the authors say, the black bears like minivans because “minivans are more likely to emit food odors, based on the fact that minivans are designed for families with children,  who are more likely to spill food and drink in a vehicle.”

Other hypotheses: Maybe minivan passengers are more prone to leave large amounts of food in a vehicle parked overnight. Perhaps minivans are structurally easier to break into than other types of vehicles. (”Bears mostly often gained access to minivans by popping open a rear side window.”) Or maybe a handful of bears is responsible for all of the break-ins, and they have somehow learned to favor minivans.

Those findings sound sensible to Scott Gediman, spokesman for the park.

“Especially at this time of year, bears are hoping to get about 20,000 calories a day, and bears are opportunistic eaters,” Gediman said Tuesday. “It’s very easy for a bear to break into a vehicle — little effort for a possibly big reward.”

Gediman said bear break-ins peaked at the park in 1998, when the furry burglars were implicated in 1,455 incidents involving about $622,000 in damages.

Since then, Gediman said, a public awareness campaign has persuaded more visitors to use bear boxes to secure food overnight, and damage figures have dropped dramatically.

Through Oct. 3 this year, the park has tallied 459 incidents, involving about $64,000 in damages. But plenty of bears are still on the prowl.

Just about a week ago, said Gediman, who lives in Yosemite’s El Portal area, his wife spotted a bear in their front yard. It had been shaking apples from the next-door neighbor’s tree.

“They are out,” Gediman said. “And they are hungry.”

For the full report, titled “Selective Foraging for Anthropogenic Resources by Black Bears: Minivans in Yosemite National Park,” click here.

— Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times

[Photo: A sign in Curry Village warns visitors of the damage the animals can do at Yosemite National Park; Credit: Gary Kazanjian / Associated Press]

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 14, 2009 at 8:51 am by Christopher Reynolds and is filed under California, Eco-Travel, Family & Kids, National Parks, News, Tips & Advice, Northern California, Outdoors & Adventure. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.