Even though the season for camping and hiking is basically over, it’s never too late to learn about some bear safety!

One of our awesome board members wanted to give Gilbert this certified bear resistant Yeti cooler as a fun experiment. Not only is it great enrichment for Gilbert, it’s a great learning opportunity for us to watch how smart these animals are and how determined they can be when there is food involved.

Containers, such as this Yeti cooler, are bear resistant, which is different from bear proof. Containers that are bear resistant meet certain standards that make it much harder for bears to access the contents, but that doesn’t mean that bears cannot get into them. Nothing truly is bear proof because bears are smart, adaptive and strong. When camping, you should still be mindful about storing food properly, even if they are in bear resistant containers.

It took Gilbert only about 10 minutes to get into the cooler. The staff at Wildlife Images did not think he would be able to get into it at all, let alone that fast.

As the video says, it’s extremely important to keep animals wild and to never feed wildlife. Habituation and food-conditioning lead to human-animal conflicts that can be dangerous for both parties and most likely lead to the death of the animal. Even though it’s hard to resist feeding the cute animals in our backyards, leaving them alone is the best way to ensure their safety and success in the wild. So just take pictures and admire them from afar.

If you have any questions about being bear aware while recreating or how to prevent bears and other animals from being attracted to your property, reach out to us and we’d be happy to spread our knowledge.

Just an FYI, the cooler had a big, whole fish in it and some red meat, some of Gilbert’s favorites!