Before Yellowstone National Park officials began closing dumps and retraining bears to fend for themselves in the wild, bears were one of the main attractions in the park. They would hang out by the roadside and beg food from passing motorists.
Managers help keep the bears' behavior interesting by hiding food under rocks and in logs.
And they supply young trees secured in subsurface tree stands for Toby, a Kodiak bear that loves to topple trees. A biologist is on hand to answer questions. Across from the bears, a pack of 10 wolves lives in a separate 1-acre pen. Vasectomized and spayed to minimize conflict and to prevent a population explosion, the wolves still exhibit classic pack behavior fascinating to watch. The bears, mostly adults orphaned as cubs, would otherwise have died or been destroyed.