Grizzly bears recovering in the American West face conflict with livestock, hikers, and hunters. The welfare impacts of conflict management — including hazing, translocation, and lethal removal — deserve careful consideration.
Grizzly bear conflict management involves welfare trade-offs between methods. Lethal removal causes death — typically by shooting — that may not be instantaneous. Translocation causes significant capture stress and is often fatal as translocated bears attempt to return to their home range or enter new conflicts. Bears conditioned to human food experience months of proximity to danger before lethal removal. Hazing programs that deter bears early in their food-conditioning process reduce the welfare harm of conflict by preventing escalation to situations requiring lethal removal. Electric fencing around attractants — garbage, livestock, beehives — is the most cost-effective preventive intervention.