Bears that become habituated to human food sources face a welfare and survival crisis. Prevention of food conditioning is essential for both bear welfare and human safety.
Wild bear welfare in human conflict situations involves acute welfare impacts of management interventions and the chronic welfare effects of habituation. Bears shot as nuisance animals experience traumatic deaths. Trapped and relocated bears experience capture stress, transport stress, and the challenge of establishing territory in unfamiliar areas. Hazing using rubber bullets, bean bags, or other aversive stimuli causes pain but avoids lethal outcomes. The preventive approach — securing attractants before bears are conditioned — is the most welfare-responsible strategy. Well-managed bear-human coexistence zones using food storage regulations, electric fencing around beehives and livestock, and community education dramatically reduce the need for lethal management.