It used to be rare to encounter a grizzly but for hikers and other travelers in the area the sightings are becoming increasing common. How many grizzlies are there in the Teton Range? It’s hard to say but through bear tracking, officials are able to keep tabs on the habits and range of a number of individual grizzlies. The bears are tranquilized and a GPS tracking device is tagged on their ears. In the past the bears were fitted with radio collars which were cumbersome to the bears and could get snagged on brush. The new technology has made tracking these bears easier on the bears as well as simpler for researchers. This enables researchers to track their movements and study their patterns consistently over time. With the increase in grizzly encounters it is becoming more and more important to determine how many bears there are and what areas they like to frequent. Bears that have acted aggressively to humans in the past are typically tracked in order to determine their location after they are relocated. If the problem bear starts to move back near humans then areas of the Tetons may be closed to hikers until the bear has moved on.