Foundation educates community on bears
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RONAN – With spring on the horizon, bears across northwestern Montana are beginning to wake up. World-renowned bear researcher Chuck Jonkel came to the Mission Valley this past week to educate students as well as the community about how to coexist with bears in our modern times. Jonkel presented at both K. William Harvey Elementary School, and the Ronan Performing Arts Center on April 14.
Jonkel began presenting his research more than 54 years ago in attempt to teach individuals in bear-prone areas how to live with the animals, and be more aware of the ecosystem. He co-founded the Great Bear Foundation, a non-profit organization located in Missoula, dedicated to the conservation of bears and their habitat around the world.
One of the foundation’s main goals is to have humans and bears successfully coexist; yet it’s the human’s responsibility to adapt and learn about living with bears, which is why Jonkel gives these presentations.
“I enjoy (speaking about bears),” Jonkel said, “Bears are a lot like people, and it's important people know how to live with them.”
Jonkel stated that the Mission Valley region does in fact have a good amount of both black and grizzly bears.
“Kids in Ronan need to know what’s around them,” Jonkel said “and there are bears out there.”
He says bears often get a bad reputation when humans don’t do their job taking care of garbage. Bears can get into trash left in unsecured containers , which can result in relocation, or euthanization of the bear.
“Bears don’t know any different,” Jonkel said, “and they can get into trouble if people don’t do the right things. Most people foods are good bear foods, we compete.”
Keeping bears aware of one’s presence in the woods is also important, Jonkel said. He told children to always make human noises while in bear country.
“They’re afraid of people,” he said. “The bear is going to know about you way before you know about it.”
Jonkel also stated that one should always be looking for things bears are attracted to like glacier lilies and huckleberries, as these foods are vital to the diet of a bear.
“Keep your eyes open at all times,” he said.
Anatomy of bears was also on the agenda during the presentation. Jonkel showed the children different claws and skulls of the American black bear, the grizzly, and mountain lion, to show the differences between species. He held up a garden hoe and a grizzly paw to show how the claws serve as the gardening tool for grizzlies, and how the black bear’s claw is different.
During a later presentation for the community, Jonkel gave a slideshow of his expeditions to the Artic Circle, where he performed extensive research on polar bears. He wanted to emphasize to his audience the importance of taking care of the North American continent.
“We try to get people to learn that this is our continent,” Jonkel said. “We use polar bears to understand the North American ecosystem.”
According to Jonkel, polar bear populations are under threat due to loss of sea ice, linked to global climate change, and other negative human impacts.
“Not many people live in the Artic,” Jonkel said, “but the Arctic is having problems and we need to do something about it.”
Jonkel wants to educate those who live in areas with bears to not see the animals as bloodthirsty creatures, but as animals that need to be better understood.
If people don’t begin to coexist properly with the bears, it is possible for bears in the Mission Valley to begin struggling just like polar bears in the Arctic Circle.
