Bad Bears: Grizzly Relocated, Another Killed

The United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department made the decision to capture and relocate an adult male grizzly bear on Aug. 15.

The bear had been eating livestock northwest of Thermopolis on private land. The bear was relocated to the Five Mile Creek drainage approximately 41 miles west of Cody in the Shoshone National Forest.

Grizzly bear relocation is one way game wardens manage the increasing bear population in the Greater Yellowstone area and help to reduce human-bear conflicts. Relocation happens when other preventive measures fail. After being captured, several factors determine its relocation,including age, gender, prior conflicts, and nearby human activities.

Bears are relocated in accordance with state and federal law and regulation, and Game and Fish is required to update the public whenever a bear is relocated.

Another grizzly bear was euthanized last week after feeding on cattle on private land in the Tom Miner Basin just north of Yellowstone National Park.

The bear – a 20-year-old male – was had been captured and relocated previously due to cattle depredation. Officials said that it also had significant tooth decay and that grizzlies in this condition sometimes prey on cattle as an easier food source.

Given the factors, and in consultation with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, officers with Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks euthanized the bear on August 11^th.

This is the third management removal of grizzly bears this year in Montana’s portion of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Two male grizzly bears have been removed due to cattle depredations, and one female grizzly was killed after breaking into garbage cans and vehicles Big Sky.

A number of bears have been relocated in Wyoming and Idaho this year.

Management authority for grizzlies belongs to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, who work closely with state wildlife agencies, the Forest Service, the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Geological Survey, Wildlife Services and Native American tribes. The agencies make up the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee.

Grizzly bears in the lower 48 states are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

For more information and resources on bear safety, visit fwp.mt.gov/conservation/wildlife-management/bear.