The number of bears destroyed varies from year to year, largely due to the size of the huckleberry crop. When there are lots of huckleberries available for bears to feed on, they keep themselves busy eating delicious berries, as was the case in 2009 and 2013. But when there is a poor crop, bears tend to look elsewhere for food, and often find it in and around human settlements. The huckleberry crop was poor in 2010, 2011 and 2012, and there was a corresponding increase in the number of bear conflicts in our communities.