Yellowstone officials: 'Don't drop backpacks' when meeting bears




YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. (AP) - Officials are urging visitors to hold on to their backpacks if they encounter bears.




Two fishermen happened upon a black bear Thursday while walking along the Yellowstone River near the confluence of Tower Creek.




The men turned and started walking away from the bear, but it followed them upstream. The anglers became concerned and dropped their backpacks, then continued.




The bear went straight to the packs, opened them and obtained their food, officials said.




Park officials say a bear that eats human food or garbage, even once, can become conditioned to the food source and seek it out, thus becoming aggressive and dangerous.




That could lead to more bear encounters, injuries to humans and possible removal of bears.




"By dropping your pack, you are contributing to conditioning bears to human foods," officials said in a release Monday. "In the rare case where a bear attacks, a pack will help shield your back from injury."