Multiple conservation organizations are asking wildlife officials in Wyoming to require hunters to carry bear spray.
The Cody Enterprise reports that the proposal is because of an increase in bear encounters during the fall 2018 hunting season. Grizzlies are typically drawn to carcasses and “gut piles” left by hunters.
Attorney Andrea Santarsiere from the Center for Biological Diversity says, “a mandate requiring hunters to carry bear spray would save lives of people and bears.”
Nicholas Arrivo, Humane Society attorney said, “the evidence that bear spray works is overwhelming.”
The groups say hunters represent the leading cause of grizzly mortality in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, and most human injuries caused by the bears happen during encounters with hunters.
Conservation groups are also asking for the bear-spray requirement with Idaho hunters.