Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

VIEWPOINT: Encourage Human Immersion in Nature

Over the past decade, the wildlife in Grand Teton National Park has become accustomed to human exposure, especially the park’s most famous grizzly bear, Grizzly 399. Born in 1996, the bear is known for almost single-handedly repopulating the park. However, while a flourishing grizzly bear population in Grand Teton seems worth celebrating, the methods 399 uses to raise her cubs are unusual. For example, she teaches her cubs to stay near highways, a place older, male grizzlies tend to avoid. She and her cubs are also known for following hunters during elk season to eat abandoned remains.

In other words, the new generation of Grand Teton grizzly bears is highly adapted to and even unafraid of human presence in their natural habitat. Encouraging human immersion in nature is more helpful than harmful, even with these changes and the threat to human life, because it promotes environmental consciousness and safety for both humans and animals. Though Georgetown University is not situated in a rural region where wildlife abounds, its students hail from across the globe, and this reminder should encourage students to treat nature with dignity whether they are on the Hilltop or a mountaintop.

The history of the grizzly bear presence in the United States helps us to understand current conditions. During the 19th and 20th centuries, largely unregulated hunting was an extremely popular sport in the western United States, resulting in the rapid decrease of the region’s prized wildlife populations. Once grizzly bears were placed on the endangered species list in 1975, with very few remaining in or near Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks, the parks and surrounding counties worked to protect and restore the grizzly bear population before it disappeared entirely. 

These efforts consisted of controlling hunting and raising awareness about bears to locals and tourists alike. Although the bear population made a comeback, raising awareness attracted hundreds of thousands tourists to the area who wanted to more closely observe the wildlife. 

However, these methods of reversing endangerment have led to problems controlling bears like 399. Her seemingly unnatural adaptations to human interaction create an ethical conflict: It is difficult to predict how long the population can flourish given that 399’s adaptations have grave multigenerational consequences. The higher the level of comfort a grizzly bear has with human presence, the more likely it is to attack a human or be killed by a car or hunter, which poses a serious threat to both humans and bears. 

Still, the main way to lower the chances of these dangers occuring is to increase awareness for implementing proper etiquette around animals. Every hiker, camper and tourist should, for example, use proper food storage techniques to guard against bears, or respond properly in case of a bear encounter. A person is more likely to care about the natural environment if they are regularly immersed in it, and the chances of preservation and restoration are higher as well. It would be hard to justify and even harder to accomplish the effective partitioning of people from the park’s wildlife in light of this fact.

In a perfect world, humans and animals would have a much more harmonious relationship than they currently do. Unfortunately, the relationship between humans and animals is not typically mutually beneficial. Minimizing the deadly effects of those interactions through the effective implementation of safety protocols is vital for creating as close to a harmonious relationship as possible.

The curious case of 399 and her offspring is just one example of how far-reaching the consequences of human interference in nature are. At Georgetown, direct involvement with the environment is limited and environmental awareness is not heavily promoted within the student body. However, many students are nature enthusiasts, whether it be hiking in natural parks like Grand Teton or stopping by the biannual petting zoo on Copley Lawn. Creating awareness emphasizes the importance of proper protocol to let nature run its own course wherever we encounter it.  

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