A Grizzly Bear First Responder Just Got a High-Tech Upgrade

Grizzly bears, apparently tired of being understated, are making a rather impressive comeback in eastern Montana. So much so that in 2017, the state had to invent a job: prairie-based grizzly manager. Enter wildlife biologist Wesley Sarmento, who became the human equivalent of a bear bouncer.

For seven years, Sarmento’s job was to play referee between growing bear populations (still a threatened species, mind you) and humans who apparently missed the memo about not building houses in prime grizzly territory. Based in the small city of Conrad, he was essentially a wildlife first responder, rushing to de-escalate hairy situations. He even had a few close calls himself. Before heading off for a PhD, he started bringing a new colleague along: a drone.

The Unexpected Buzzkill for Bears

Sarmento's history with bears is already pretty wild. While studying mountain goats in Glacier National Park, he spent over three years wearing a bear costume once a week to see how the goats reacted. Yes, you read that correctly.

As a grizzly manager, his days often involved long drives to shoo bears away from farms, where spilled grains are basically an all-you-can-eat buffet for a hungry bear. His toolkit usually included a shotgun, cracker shells, and bear spray. But after a moment where he nearly became a bear snack, he decided a new strategy was in order. "In that moment," he recalled, "I was like, I am gonna get myself killed."

He tried Airedale dogs, known for their bear-scaring prowess, but they proved a tad too easily distracted. Meanwhile, other biologists were already deploying drones for things like bird counts and habitat mapping. The lightbulb went off.

His first drone deployment was in 2022. A mother grizzly and her two cubs had decided a silo outside of town looked like a perfectly cozy (and delicious) hideout. The drone, with its infrared sensors, found them instantly. Then, Sarmento used the drone's whirring sound to persuade them to leave. Researchers suspect bears dislike the noise because it mimics a swarm of bees. "The whole thing was so clean and controlled," he noted, "And I did it all from the safety of my truck."

His $4,000 drone, a fairly basic model with a thermal camera and a 30-minute battery life, has become invaluable. It helps him spot grizzlies in dense brush or hard-to-reach river bottoms — places he’d normally have to trek into himself, hoping he didn't surprise anyone with very large claws. Which, if you think about it, is both impressive and slightly terrifying.

Now at the University of Montana, Sarmento is diving into wildlife ecology. His next big idea? Designing a drone that campus police can use to keep black bears from wandering onto school grounds. He's also eyeing AI image recognition, hoping that one day drones will automatically identify bears and gently guide them away from human-heavy areas. Because apparently that's where we are now.

This tech isn't just cool; it's crucial. It helps prevent bears from learning behaviors that lead to conflict with people — conflicts that often end poorly for the bear, and occasionally, tragically for humans. "The out-of-the-box technology doesn't exist yet," he said, "but the hope is to keep exploring applications. Drones are the next frontier." Let's hope they come with a tiny, remote-controlled bear costume.