Conservationists and scientists are calling for more measures to keep grizzly bears safe on roads.
This comes after world-famous bear 399 was hit by a car outside Jackson, Wyoming. The driver wasn’t speeding, but creative signs with graphics could help some other bears.
Experts say the typical highway signs saying things like “bear crossing” can become easy to tune out.
“The sign becomes kind of like visual noise, potentially. It's just like something you see every day as you're commuting.” said University of Montana Assistant Professor Will Rice.
He said changing signs out frequently and adding creative designs and messaging can help. In an experiment in Grand Teton National Park last summer, he found new signs reduced the odds of speeding by as much as 35%.
One read “Cub crossing ahead, entering bear corridor” with a mama bear and cub image.
“It didn't tell people to slow down at all,” Rice said, “but it presented as an opportunity to slow down and you might see a bear, but it used safety-style colors, so it used reds and yellows.”
Another one said, “Slow down. When a cub dies our community mourns” in a Winnie-the-Pooh font. Rice said its effectiveness is rooted in social norms.
“Because if you do hit a bear, your neighbors are going to be upset,” he said. “They’re going to mourn like we are seeing now.”
According to a police report, the driver that hit grizzly 399 was going under the speed limit and swerved into her only in order to save her cub.
Rice said this research gives him hope for saving other grizzlies. The signs could actually be permanently implemented after Rice publishes the research and presents the signs to the National Park Service and the Bridger-Teton National Forest.
According to a federal database, 66 grizzlies have been killed in the region this year, often because of conflicts with livestock.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Colorado and KANW in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
