# Yellowstone National Park **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 23, 2008, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yellowstone-national-park/434650 "2008-01-23T10:02:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2008, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yellowstone-national-park/434650/1 "2008-01-23T10:02:17Z")
There was a programme on UK TV last night concerning the killing of Black Bears by Grizzlies for food in Yellowstone, a fascinating programme indeed. I never realised that these magnificent animals were cannibalistic in nature. It was mentioned that it is possible certain parts of Yellowstone and indeed the USA as a whole remain unexplored and I got to wondering how this is possible in this day and age, I would have thought that the Continental USA would have been pretty well all covered. Perhaps someone out there can tell me what, if any, unexplored regions there are ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2008, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yellowstone-national-park/434650/2 "2008-01-23T10:17:39Z")
I’m guessing this is not the correct forum so will a mod please shunt it off to the proper one ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2008, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yellowstone-national-park/434650/3 "2008-01-23T14:36:27Z")
[QUOTE=chowder] There was a programme on UK TV last night concerning the killing of Black Bears by Grizzlies for food in Yellowstone, a fascinating programme indeed. I never realised that these magnificent animals were cannibalistic in nature. [/QUOTE] How is it cannibalistic? They’re not the same species. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2008, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yellowstone-national-park/434650/4 "2008-01-23T14:45:00Z")
[QUOTE=Anne Neville] How is it cannibalistic? They’re not the same species. [/QUOTE] Indeed. But apparently cannibalism is also observed. Here’s a [link](http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0022-2372(199205)73%3A2%3C422%3ACAPOBB%3E2.0.CO%3B2-6) to a paper that examines both. I’ve heard it said that the notorious hostility of a female grizzly with cubs is due to the tendency of males to kill (and sometimes eat) cubs. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2008, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yellowstone-national-park/434650/5 "2008-01-23T14:54:12Z")
[QUOTE=chowder] It was mentioned that it is possible certain parts of Yellowstone and indeed the USA as a whole remain unexplored … [/QUOTE] The only way this can be accurate is in the sense of “really remote - people hardly ever go there.” ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2008, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yellowstone-national-park/434650/6 "2008-01-23T15:31:08Z")
[QUOTE=chowder] It was mentioned that it is possible certain parts of Yellowstone and indeed the USA as a whole remain unexplored [/QUOTE] As pointed out, “remote” and “unexplored” are two different things. Yellowstone has been completely explored and mapped. Bear in mind that a UK nature program on the glories of the Wild with a capital “W” isn’t going to mention the heavily trafficked nature of Yellowstone. Such as the way that, due to sheer demand, backpacking into the more remote areas is [strictly regulated](http://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/backcountryhiking.htm). Although yes, it is possible to go into the remote back country and be attacked by a grizzly bear, still, you could [phone home for help.](http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/05/060531-cell-phones.html) And the continental U.S. **has** been completely explored and mapped in the pursuit of resources such as the various ores and things like timber, not to mention the various land rushes and land grabs over the years. A parallel would be for me to watch a documentary on the Peak District, and then to say, “It was mentioned that it is possible certain parts of Derbyshire and indeed the UK as a whole remain unexplored.” Maybe the cryptozoologists like to think that parts of the USA are unexplored, but it ain’t so. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2008, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yellowstone-national-park/434650/7 "2008-01-23T15:49:14Z")
[QUOTE=chowder] Perhaps someone out there can tell me what, if any, unexplored regions there are [/QUOTE] That would depend on the definition of “explored” and the definition of “region”. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2008, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yellowstone-national-park/434650/8 "2008-01-23T18:28:06Z")
There are some rangers at Yellowstone who are still wandering into the backcountry and discovering waterfalls that no one has previously found. There’s a lot of terrain out there to hide things. [http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/156579351X/104-2534089-0527140?v=glance](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/156579351X/104-2534089-0527140?v=glance) ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2008, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yellowstone-national-park/434650/9 "2008-01-23T18:33:05Z")
On reflection and given the sheer size of the US I would not be at all surprised to find that there are in fact unexplored areas. By “unexplored” I don’t mean totally, I mean that certain places will not have been thoroughly mapped. All those UFOs prolly hide in them…and Bigfoot ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2008, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yellowstone-national-park/434650/10 "2008-01-23T19:10:19Z")
Here is an interesting factoid: > [@](#): > > The only place you can be 22 miles away from road in the contiguous states is a spot in the southeast corner of Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. from [here](http://www.livescience.com/strangenews/070503_roadless_space.html)