Three Grizzly Bears Captured and Euthanized

Three grizzly bears were captured by Montana Fish Wildlife & Parks Grizzly Bear Biologists and euthanized with the assistance of local veterinarians, according to FWP Grizzly Bear Management Specialist Tim Manley. The bears had become food-conditioned and caused conflicts resulting in property damage and in one case, lots of dead chickens.

FWP Wildlife Manager Jim Williams called the situation unfortunate. “We typically learn from the bear’s behavior when it is time to remove them,” says Williams. “There is a threshold at which it is not safe to release a problem grizzly bear back into the wild. In all three of these cases the bears had progressed to breaking through structures near occupied residences and/or had a long previous history of conflict with humans. In each case, the problems started with human attractants.”

Grizzly Bear Number 1: A 3-year old, 140 pound, female grizzly bear was captured and euthanized on October 28th, near Nyack east of West Glacier after the bear had caused property damage by breaking into a chicken coop to get chicken feed and attempting to get through a door on a porch to get dog food. Due to the property damage and history, the decision was made to remove the bear.

Grizzly Bear Number 2: Another grizzly was removed in the Glen Lake area near Eureka on October 30th. This 375-pound, 6-year old male grizzly was also food-conditioned and had been killing chickens and breaking into structures. Due to the property damage and large number of chickens that were killed at several places, the decision was made to remove the bear.

Grizzly Bear Number 3: The third grizzly bear removed was a 7-year old, 525 pound male that was captured on the east side of the Flathead Valley near Mud Lake on November 2. This bear had caused extensive damage to a tack shed that was used to store horse grain. The landowner had made a good effort to “bear proof” his shed after a bear had tried getting into it 10 years ago. He had put up steel diamond mesh over a metal door and window. The bear put a hole through the wall and also pulled down the mesh over the door and pushed in the metal door. Due to the extensive property damage the decision was made to remove the bear.

Manley noted that overall, this season had been fairly quiet with regards to grizzly bear conflicts, until the month of October. In addition to these three bears, trapping for grizzly bears causing conflicts has also occurred in the Farm-to-Market, Blankenship, Columbia Falls, and Pinkham Creek areas. Most grizzly bears den during the month of November, and a telemetry flight conducted on October 19th showed 3 female grizzly bears at their dens.

“The best thing that residents living in bear country can do to prevent bear conflicts is to secure attractants such as garbage, pet food, and bird feeders so that bears don’t get food rewards and start looking around homes and buildings for food,” said Manley. “Chickens and other livestock can be protected with properly installed and maintained electric fencing.”

History, Grizzly Bear Number 1: This female was originally captured in the Coram area as a cub in 2010 and relocated into the North Fork along with the adult female and its sibling. In the spring of 2011, the family group returned to the Coram area and the yearling female and its male sibling were again captured and moved to the Spotted Bear drainage. The adult female eluded capture. They were both fitted with an eartag transmitter and monitored. In the spring of 2012, the young female was observed in the horse corrals at Spotted Bear before any Forest Service personnel were down there for the field season. She was captured and fitted with a radio collar because the battery in the eartag transmitter would be going dead and, being two years of age, was old enough to wear a radio collar. She spent most of the summer in the Bob Marshall Wilderness Area, but during the fall, she returned to the Spotted Bear area and spent time around the guest ranches and Forest Service compound looking primarily for spilled horse grain. Forest Service personnel worked with the guest ranches on securing attractants and chasing her away if she was being seen around the buildings. She denned in the Bob Marshall Wilderness south of Spotted Bear and dropped her radio collar in June of 2013. On September 14, 2013, she was recaptured at the Spotted Bear compound after the report of a bear getting into coolers in the back of a pickup truck and climbing through the open window of another truck to get dog biscuits. There was also bear scat with grain in it. The decision was made to give her one more chance and move her into the Whale Creek drainage in the North Fork of the Flathead. The North Fork was chosen because most of the residents in the North Fork have secured bear attractants and there is very little chicken or horse grain in the North Fork. There were no reports of this bear causing any conflicts until she ended up at Nyack Flats.

History, Grizzly Bear Number 2: The male grizzly was originally captured in 2008 as part of a research project in the North Fork drainage of British Columbia. While he was collared in 2008, he spent all of his time in Southeast British Columbia. He was captured October 6th, 2013, near Glen Lake where the local game warden was trying to capture two young grizzly bears that had been seen getting on porches and were believed to have also killed chickens. The capture of this male was believed to have been incidental. He was fitted with a GPS radio-collared and released in the Whale Creek drainage of the North Fork of the Flathead. He returned to the Glen Lake area within a week. He was recaptured near Glen Lake after several chicken coops were broken into and over 30 chickens were killed. The GPS data from his radio collar also showed that he spent a lot of time around houses between Trego and Eureka once he returned to the Tobacco Valley.

History, Grizzly Bear Number 3: This bear was originally captured on the Rocky Mountain Front and was translocated to the Unawah drainage on the east side of Hungry Horse Reservoir in 2010. He dropped his radio collar in Wheeler Creek in 2011.


Jeff
Hiking in Glacier National Park

Yellowstone Gray Wolf Euthanized

It's 2011....and people are still feeding wild animals!

A habituated gray wolf believed to be conditioned to human foods was killed by Yellowstone National Park staff on October 8th.

Since July, the 110-pound male wolf had approached staff and visitors at close range at least seven times and had been unsuccessfully hazed each time from the Fishing Bridge developed areas. The wolf was a member of Mollie's Pack from the Pelican Valley area, and was estimated to be between 2 and 4 years old.

The decision to remove the wolf came following a history of fearless behavior in the presence of humans, repeated visitation to developed areas within the park and numerous unsuccessful hazing attempts. Each of these factors was indicative of the wolf's potential habituation to human food, which posed an increased risk to park visitors and staff.

Efforts to relocate food-conditioned animals have generally proven unsuccessful because they simply return to the areas from which they were removed.

What does it take for people to understand that feeding wildlife is bad for the animal, and potentially bad for other people? You can read the rest of the press release by clicking here.



Jeff
Hiking in Glacier.com

Black Bear Captured and Euthanized

Glacier National Park Rangers and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks biologists captured and euthanized a black bear in the Polebridge area on Wednesday, October 5, after numerous incidents in which the bear broke into vehicles, raided trash storage areas and caused damage trying to access a residence. The bear broke vehicle windows and pulled off car door handles to gain access into at least four cars and trucks, including a vehicle in the park. The bear obtained a food reward in most of these incidents.

The female bear was six years old and weighed 241 pounds, and had been previously captured in downtown Kalispell in June of 2008, after it was seen in the Woodland Park area. The bear was tagged and released in McGinnis Creek in the North Fork of the Flathead, and has not been involved in any other management situations since.

After the recent incidents in the Polebridge area, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks biologists and park rangers set traps and captured the suspect animal. After consultation between Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks biologists and Glacier National Park personnel and verification that the correct animal had been captured, the bear was euthanized. This action is consistent with state and federal bear management plans.

This bear was determined to be a conditioned bear and a potential threat to human safety. Conditioned bears are those that have sought and obtained non-natural foods, destroyed property or displayed aggressive non-defensive behavior towards humans, and are removed from the wild. Conditioned bears are not relocated.

Black bears are not good candidates for animal capture facilities such as zoos and animal parks due to the plentiful nature of the species and the large number of problem black bears throughout the United States.

Bears will go to great lengths to obtain foods, particularly in the fall during their pre-denning hyperphagia or hyper-eating period. In the fall, bears will consume 20,000-30,000 calories per day in order to gain the fat reserves needed for winter.

To keep bears wild, people need to remain vigilant about securing attractants such as birdfeeders, trash, and pet and livestock feeds. It is also important to pick fruits such as apples, pears and plums as soon as the fruit is ripe, and to remove any fruit on the ground.

Visitors to Glacier National Park are reminded that the park is home to black and grizzly bears. Hikers are highly encouraged to hike in groups, make noise when hiking, and have bear spray accessible and know how to use it. For more information about recreating in bear country, please visit http://www.nps.gov/glac/naturescience/bears.htm.


Jeff
Hiking in Glacier.com