featured prominently in Miwok mythology and were the top predators in the region until the 1920s, when they became locally extinct. A sketch of a Yosemite grizzly by Charles Nahl adorns the flag of California. American black bears were a common attraction by the 1930s, but in 1929 alone 81 people required treatment for bear-related injuries. Troublesome bears were marked with white paint before being relocated to other parts of the park, and repeat offenders were killed. Bear feeding shows were stopped in 1940, but the Park Service continued to kill bears that habitually raided camps; 200 were put down between 1960 and 1972. Park visitors are now educated about proper food storage. To supplement their incomes, the rangers trapped predators such as coyote, fox, lynx, mountain lion, and wolverine for their furs, a practice that survived until 1925. Predator control continued however; 43 mountain lions were killed in Yosemite by the state lion hunter in 1927. Cooper's hawk and sharp-shinned hawk were hunted to local extinction. Bighorn sheep, which were driven locally extinct through hunting and disease, have been reintroduced in the east of the park. The Park Service and the Yosemite Fund have also helped peregrine falcons and great gray owls to re-establish themselves. Tule elk, which had been hunted almost to extinction, were housed in a pen in Yosemite before being moved to the Owens Valley in eastern California. Notes References Stock, Greg M. et al. (2013). Historical Rock Falls in Yosemite National Park, California (1857-2011). Reston, Va.: U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey. External links Yosemite: the Park and its Resources (1987) by Linda W. Greene Guardians of the Yosemite (1961) by John W. Bingaman History of the Sierra Nevada (United States) History of California by region Yosemite History of Mariposa County, California History of Tuolumne County, California History of Madera County, California