Grizzly bears require large wilderness areas and face serious threats from habitat loss and human conflict, making coexistence strategies critical to their welfare and survival.
Wild grizzly bears face welfare threats from habitat fragmentation that forces them into smaller ranges with less food security, and from human conflict that results in lethal removal of individuals. Bears captured for relocation experience acute handling stress, and repeated relocations often precede lethal removal. Orphaned cubs whose mothers are killed lose years of essential learning, compromising their long-term welfare. Food stress from habitat loss drives bears into human-use areas in search of calories, creating conflict cycles that typically end badly for the bear. Coexistence programs that secure attractants, compensate livestock losses, and promote non-lethal conflict resolution keep individual bears alive and reduce their stress from conflict encounters.