Yosemite Ask Travelers To Watch Out For Bears And Other Wildlife

Yosemite National Park

Yosemite, CA – Yosemite National Park officials want travelers to watch out for bears and other wildlife in the park on one roadway in particular.

Just last week, a yearling was hit and killed near the Yosemite Creek drainage along Tioga Road/Highway 120. Park officials relay that even with just a few months remaining until winter and the seasonal closure of Tioga Road, the stretch of roadway remains a threat to wildlife.

Already, 14 bears have been hit by vehicles this year. Black bear cubs already face low odds of survival in their first year of life without the threat of speeding vehicles, advise park officials. They added that about a quarter of black bear cubs die in their first year of life, and a third die within the next two years.

Park officials identified this female bear and her two cubs, pictured here, to make their point. Their territory is largely in the Tuolumne Meadows area, where she has successfully kept her cubs alive through their first year of life.

“As far as we know, this family of bears crosses the Tioga Road on a daily basis, sometimes multiple times a day. Each time they approach and cross the road, their lives enter the hands of us human drivers, who more often than not, are speeding and unaware of the potential for wildlife to be crossing the road,” shared park officials.

It is the same for other wildlife in the remaining few months of the road being open, which is a critical time for their survival. In advocating for their protection, park officials ask the public, “If you are visiting Yosemite, please drive the speed limits on all of our roads and use extra caution in dawn and dusk hours when wildlife is active and difficult to see. You can all do your part in the continued protection of black bears and wildlife here in Yosemite and beyond.”