Do (Not) Feed the Bears - by Alice Wondrak Biel (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

It was a familiar sight at Yellowstone National Park: traffic backed up for miles as visitors fed bears from their cars. It may have been against the rules, but park officials were willing to turn a blind eye if it kept the public happy. But bear feeding eventually became too widespread and dangerous to everyone--including the bears--for the National Park Service (NPS) to allow it any longer.

As one of the park's most beloved and enduring symbols, the Yellowstone bears have long been a flashpoint for controversy. Alice Wondrak Biel traces the evolution of their complex relationship with humans--from the creation of the first staged wildlife viewing areas to the present--and situates that relationship within the broader context of American cultural history. Early on, park bears were largely thought of as performers or surrogate pets and were routinely fed handouts from cars, as well as hotel garbage dumped at park-sanctioned "lunch counters for bears." But as these activities led to ever-greater numbers of tourist injuries, and of bears killed as a result, and as ideas about conservation and the NPS mission changed, the agency refashioned the bear's image from cute circus performer to dangerous wild animal and, eventually, to keystone inhabitant of a fragile ecosystem.

Drawing on the history of recorded interactions with bears and providing telling photographs depicting the evolving bear-human relationship, Biel traces the reaction of park visitors to the NPS's efforts--from warnings by Yogi Bear (which few tourists took seriously) to the increasing promotion of key ecological issues and concerns. Ultimately, as the rules were enforced and tourist behavior dramatically shifted, the bears returned to a more natural state of existence.

Biel's entertaining and informative account tracks this gradual "renaturalization" while also providing a cautionary tale about the need for careful negotiation at the complex nexus of tourists, bears, and all things wild.

Review Quotes

"Biel writes with conviction about the influence of various park superintendents, bear-management strategies, and changing eco-political influences, particularly the economic impact of the tourist trade. Years of training the public to regard bears as neither cute nor cuddly but as wild animals magnificent in their own right and deserving respect appear to have improved the welfare of wildlife in the park. Yet each generation must be educated anew, and Biel's book is a valuable contribution to that effort."--Booklist

"A superb, complex narrative. . . . Biel's work is rooted in solid research and . . . is also aided by her humorous insights."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Biel uses the bear as a lens through which to explore larger questions about America's ambivalent cultural love affair with wilderness. . . . Her work raises thoughtful questions about both the responsibility and culpability of human beings seeking some meaningful and lasting connection to and understanding of wilderness."--The Historian

"Biel chronicles this remarkable change of mind [the bear narrative] with verve and wit. . . . this is a beguiling [first] book."--Pacific Historical Review

"This nuanced, perceptive, and delightful book is a significant addition to wildlife literature and will deservedly attract a wide audience."--Yellowstone Science

"A significant piece, well researched and written. This book does a very good job of interpreting the animal's role in the wildlife and preservation debate in America."--Cultural Geographies

"Biel has written an excellent account of the bears of Yellowstone National Park and the people who interacted with them. The combination of scholarship, inherently fascinating topic, and accessible style makes this work a good choice for classroom use and an important book for environmental historians."--American Historical Review

"I long for books like Biel's Grizzly story--a sharp, complex history of our encounters with animals that's also a lovely, fun piece of writing. Her account of what Yellowstone's bears mean and why is an excellent read for general bear-lovers as well as scholars and students."--Jenny Price, author of Flight Maps: Adventures with Nature in Modern America

"Biel's thorough study of America's stormy relationship with the bears of Yellowstone is smart and sympathetic. . . . Valuable for both observers and practitioners of the management of charismatic wildlife."--Paul Schullery, author of Searching for Yellowstone and Real Alaska

"A must-read. It's too funny to pass up and too meaningful to ignore."--Hal K. Rothman, author of Devil's Bargains: Tourism in the Twentieth-Century American West