Where’s a Yellowstone bear? Look on your phone
CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Pretty soon, the best place to be on the lookout for wolves, grizzly bears, bison and other wildlife in Yellowstone National Park could be your phone.
Just don’t be surprised if lots of other people get the same idea and most of the creatures you see are the two-legged variety.
New smartphone apps enable people to pinpoint where they’ve recently seen critters in Yellowstone. People who drive to those locations can — at least in theory — improve their odds of seeing wildlife compared to the typical tourist’s dumb luck.
One app called Where’s a Bear promises “up to the second” animal sightings in Yellowstone. Recently a website called Yellowstone Wildlife began offering a similar app.
Websites long have kept track of animal sightings in Yellowstone. Already this spring the Yellowstone Wildlife site shows signs of life: Mule deer near park headquarters at Mammoth, bison in the area of a landmark petrified tree.
A message on the site warns of grizzlies feeding on a bison carcass near the Yellowstone River Trail. The statement relayed from the National Park Service could save a life. Grizzly attacks killed two tourists in Yellowstone last summer.