Do you want to escape the daily grind of work and the anxiety of repeating a familiar cycle every 24 hours?
If you’re in the United States, consider moving to Montana to work on keeping grizzly bears out of trouble. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service – a government agency that manages wildlife habitats – is currently seeking a candidate for the position of “grizzly bear conflict manager.
Instead of engaging in territorial disputes between bear species, they will collaborate with local wildlife agencies to manage bear populations and minimize their interactions with humans.
The successful candidate will be compensated between $79,363 and $103,176 per year, according to the advertisement, and will need to live within 160 km of Missoula, Bozeman, or Kalispell in Montana, USA.
The person in this role must be a U.S. citizen and have “experience handling grizzly bears.”
In return, they will receive a job that is somewhat physical and will never have two workdays that are the same.
The candidate will split their time between camping in the field and being inside an office with “adequate lighting, heating, and ventilation.” They are expected to use various modes of transportation to navigate through harsh terrains, including hiking, snowmobiles, boats, and small aircraft. They will also supervise a small team.
“The incumbent may face a high number of insect bites and may be required to work near large animals such as bears and moose,” the advertisement states. They may also need to carry a firearm for protection, additional recruitment information notes.
The application deadline is today, March 8, 2022. Applicants must be U.S. citizens and have “significant experience handling grizzly bears,” according to the description.
A black bear breaking into a living area to steal food.
Essentially, bear attacks in the U.S. remain relatively rare, but they are at risk of becoming more frequent due to the expansion of human habitation into remote areas across North America, as well as the impacts of climate change.
Earlier this year, residents in the South Lake Tahoe area of California contacted wildlife authorities over 150 times. They reported that a black bear weighing over 200 kg had repeatedly broken into their living area to steal food. Authorities later discovered that it was not just one animal, but three different hungry bears.
