Science / Environment
CONFLICT
People and wildlife share this planet. There are times when disagreements
arise when people and wildlife share the same environment. This causes
conflict. Human and wildlife conflicts can take many forms. Some people are
unhappy when wildlife kill livestock or pets for food. A squirrel might chew
on the wiring from a new vehicle. A skunk might decide to move into a
garage. New roads, shopping malls, or housing developments can interfere
or destroy wildlife habitats. Too many people visiting a scenic area can
change the wildlife that remain in that area. Conflicts between humans and
wildlife occur all over the state. Conflicts arise from what people think and
know about wildlife.
Read the article below and answer the questions.
1. Who is the conflict between? ___________________________________
2. What human activities are resulting in problems? ___________________
3. What wildlife activities are resulting in problems? ___________________
4. Suggest a solution to end the conflict: ____________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
Life in the foothills
Dolores heard the noise just before
dawn. It sounded like the construc-
tion workers when they tore down
the small, metal shed in the back-
yard. But the shed was gone and no
construction crew was scheduled to
work, especially at this hour.
She got up, wrapped herself in a
blanket, grabbed a flashlight and
padded in her slippers to the door
leading to the back porch. No lights
were on even though she had
installed motion-sensing porch
lights. She paused at the door and
listened. It was a few minutes before
she heard anything unusual. What
she heard was some quiet grunts and
then what sounded like a trash can
being thumped.
Dolores knew a bear was out there.
She took an involuntary step back-
ward. It sounded like the bear was
getting into the trash can in which
she kept feed for the birds. The can
was under a tree about 12 feet from
the porch.
She reached over to turn on the
porch light. She thought the light
would scare the animals away.
Light flooded the back porch and
about 20 feet beyond. There were
two bears. One was sitting on its
Adapted from Colorado's Backyard Wildlife Educator Activity Guide
haunches holding a broken bird
feeder; the other was swatting at the
trash can.
They didn’t move away when the
lights went on. In fact, one of the
bears started ambling towards the
porch…
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