EXPLORE | THROUGH THE LENS
OUR TASK WAS simply to change some batteries.
But the batteries were in a radio collar worn by
a male black bear in Bryce Canyon National Park,
Utah. Wes Larson, a wildlife biologist at Brigham
Young University who was figuring out how to reduce
human-bear conflicts near backcountry campsites,
had invited me along for a “little adventure”: We
would tranquilize the bear while he was hibernating.
On a cold and clear day in February, Wes, his
brother Jeff, his assistant Jordan, and I were fol-
lowing the GPS coordinates from the bear’s collar up
a steep and into a red earth canyon covered in high
desert brush and freshly fallen snow. The signal led
us up the face of a steep hillside. The temperature
dropped into the single digits as we poked at the
snow, trying to locate the den’s entrance.
A weak radio signal led us to several empty dens,and as the sun set, we considered turning back. Then
a curtain of snow collapsed, revealing a sandstone
cave. It narrowed to a dark tunnel, and the musky
scent of wild animal steamed from within.
The tunnel was barely wide enough for a person
to turn around in, and it kinked to the left, obscur-
ing our view of what lay inside. Wes didn’t hesitate.
Armed with an expandable six-foot stick tipped
with a tranquilizer syringe, he dived in headfirst.
His brother crawled after him.
Thirty seconds later, they came flying backward
out of the tunnel. The bear they’d collared a year and
a half ago now weighed about 350 pounds—and he
was awake. Wes had managed to jab him with the
syringe, so we waited for the drug to take effect.
When black bears hibernate, their breath slows and
their body temperature drops by roughly 12 degreesBY COREY ARNOLDDon’t
Wake the
Bear
IN A REMOTE UTAH CAVE,
A HIBERNATING BLACK BEAR
GREETS UNEXPECTED
VISITORS.36 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC