Your minivan looks delicious: Yosemite bears show clear preference

Early bear / car interaction

If my family's minivan is anything to go by, it is clear to see why Yosemite's black bears show a preference for minivans: There is food everywhere!

In a recent study published in the Journal of Mammalogy showed that Yosemite bears favored minivans 26 percent of the time with the runner up being sport utilities with 22.5 percent.

Researchers think that bears have learned to favor these vehicles because they readily have food available and may be easier to break into, although I doubt that any vehicle really poses much of an obstacle for a hungry bear. It would be interesting to see what the stastics are like for vehicles entering the park. I would suspect that more than 50 percent of the vehicles would be either minivans or SUVs.

Regardless of the stats, Yosemite staffers are using the publication of the report to once again advise visitors to remove food from their vehicles and take advantage of bear boxes.

Speaking of delicous minivans, here are a couple of stories highlighting these trusty haulers:

Honey I shrunk the minivan! Future of mini-minivans in USA

Honda, Toyota and Nissan to offer new models in 2011: 'Year of the Minivan'

For more info: Read more about the Yosemite bear report in this Baltimore Sun article.

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