This is a "White Paper" presented at the Yellowstone Ecosystem Subcommittee (of the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee) meeting, April 4, 2000.

Introduction
"The Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team (IGBST) was asked by the Yellowstone Ecosystem Subcommittee (YES) to review grizzly bear mortalities and bear-human conflicts within the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and identify those causes and areas where most occur. The following report details this review. Montana Fish Wildlife & Parks maintains the complete mortality database (1959-94). The IGBST has corrected and added to the mortality database for years 1975-1998. In this analysis, IGBST database was used. Yellowstone National Park maintains the conflict information database, and records are complete and updated from 1992-98."

Hunting-related mortalities were the primary source of human-caused grizzly bear mortalities during 1992-1998 (43%). When poaching is included, it amounts to more than half of all grizzly mortalities (53%).

Approximately half of mortalities due to food-conditioned grizzlies occurred on private lands, even though private lands account for about 2% of lands within the recovery zone.

When all grizzly/human conflicts are considered, including those that do not result in grizzly mortalities, livestock is the leading cause of conflicts from 1992 to 1998 (41%). Conflicts due to bears getting access to human foods was the next leading cause of conflicts, and this outweighed livestock conflicts during two years when natural bear foods were poor. Livestock conflicts have increased significantly, such that they comprised 60% of all bear-human conflicts during 1995-1998. These conflicts have shifted in recent years to outside the grizzly bear recovery zone (84% in 1998). The highest percentage of conflicts has occurred on the Bridger-Teton National Forest (57%).