Portable Electric Fencing for Bear Deterrence and Conservation

• Main Authors: Tom S. Smith, Bryan Hopkins, John Gookin, Samantha Thompson
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Utah State University 2018
• Subjects: bear deterrents; bear-human interactions; black bears; grizzly bears; polar bears; electric fencing; ursus americanus; ursus arctos; ursus maritimus; envir; demo; Ursus arctos; Ursus maritimus
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.26077/h9sw-qg28; https://doaj.org/article/238f5667d1c645d1b02f7aa2864ad804

Although bear-inflicted (Ursus spp.) human fatalities are rare in North America, human injuries, property damage, and bear mortalities occur wherever bears and humans commingle. We investigated the efficacy of portable electric fencing systems for bear deterrence under a variety of environmental conditions in the lab and field. Our results showed that the bear deterrent systems we evaluated were effective in protecting humans, their food, and property from bears >99% of the time. Herein, we discuss the benefits of using electric fencing, reasons why fences sometimes fail, and provide guidance regarding the most effective implementation of the systems we evaluated. Lastly, we also explore why this deterrent is not yet in widespread use. We encourage the use of electric fencing in bear country for protecting humans, their camping gear and food, and ultimately to promote bear conservation.