Bear chasers at Yosemite National Park keep the animals wild

YOSEMITE, Calif. (NBC, KYMA/KECY) - Yosemite National Park is home to hundreds of black bears, but rangers say tourists are posing a risk to their livelihoods, and share how Yosemite bear chasers keep the animals wild.

There are yellow signs are posted all along the roadways in Yosemite which read, "Speeding Kills Bears," and every single one marks the spot someone hit a bear this year.

Yosemite National Park is home to hundreds of black bears, and a team is responsible for keeping them wild.

"Our job is to keep bears wild and alive and people safe," said Erin Degutis, who, along with her dog Yoshi, is a bear chaser.

When a bear gets a little too close to a highly populated area, she gets a call. She can easily track the bears they've collared, but that's a very small percentage.

"If we have 500 bears, we've got five collared right now. So the other 495, I don't know exactly where they are," Degutis shared.

Tracking down and chasing away uncollared bears is Yoshi's specialty, but they don't do all of this just for the tourists. They do it to protect wildlife.

"The bears behave the way the bears behave. There's no such thing as a bad bear. There's just bears that suffer for the wrong decisions that people make," Degutis expressed.

"We've already had 18 vehicles hit by a bear this year," said Scott Gediman, a spokesperson with the park.

Some of the biggest dangers to bears are speeding and leaving scented things unattended, so when they're not chasing bears, they're chasing tourists.

"We just want to keep the bears wild. And to me...when I see a wild bear, meaning no tag that hasn't been captured, it's just such a warm feeling because that's really what you see in the national parks are all about," Gediman remarked.

So when visiting Yosemite, be a good houseguest.