Official says there is no straightforward explanation for the increase and it could be chance, but it has not helped that there are more people recreating in the Yellowstone region as the coronavirus pandemic has given them a reason to spend more time outdoors.
Grizzly bears on the eastern side of the Rocky Mountain Front have expanded in numbers and dispersed into areas where they have not existed for decades.
This year, there were no chaperones, and people were mostly left to police themselves. Sometimes that went smoothly, but other times it’s proved to be an ugly affair – and the stakes are high when large carnivores, naive tourists and high-speed traffic are all part of the equation.
And a boater suffered non-life-threatening injuries after he also surprised a grizzly with a cub.
As bears were hibernating in their dens this winter, the Blackfeet Stockgrowers Association held a meeting in Choteau to provide a space for ranchers like Mark Hitchcock to talk about working alongside the growing number of grizzly bears on the Rocky Mountain Front.
But his actions bring charges.
The November to December hunt probably takes place too late in the year for grizzly bears to seek out animal remains that hunters leave behind
The move comes after trains have killed eight grizzlies in northwestern Montana so far in 2019. That’s the most ever recorded in a single year.
All hunters involved were able to drive away after the attacks.
USFWS says the bear crossed into Idaho last August, but wildlife officials captured it and sent it back to Montana.
Run-ins with bears are happening in agricultural areas where the fearsome animals hadn’t been seen for decades, raising tensions in communities over the grizzly’s status as a federally protected species in the U.S. outside Alaska. They now occupy almost 27,000 square miles, a range that has grown 34 percent in the past decade.
Bears attack people in northwest Montana a few times a year. That’s enough for medical professionals and wildlife managers to have developed a special protocol that’s part treatment, part forensics to ensure both parties recover.
Master hunting guide from Alaska has license revoked for life, receives 60-day suspended jail sentence, fined $65,000 with $30,000 suspended, and gets year of probation.
Montana officials have adopted a plan to maintain the largest grizzly population in the Lower 48 states at roughly current numbers if the animal is removed from the threatend species list.
Man who was elk hunting told authorities he shot the bear after it approached his hunting camp three different times. However, investigators found only one set of bear tracks outside the camp and determined that it wasn’t a case of self-defense.
Park biologist spotted grizzly bears feeding on carcasses of three elk, at least one that was killed by a hunter.
Mostly lower-than-average hunter numbers and harvest success in second weekend, with grizzly sighting and reminder for hunters to be bear aware.
The hunter and his partner were in the Beattie Gulch area and surprised a sow and cub at very close range. The sow charged.
As bears become more common in prairie creek bottoms and brush rows, encounters with bird hunters become more frequent as well.
States need to be allowed to manage burgeoning bear populations.
Ruling nixes planned hunts in Wyoming and Idaho this fall.
JACKSON, Wyo. — Wyoming officials have trapped and killed two grizzly bears they believe killed a hunting outfitter and injured his client. Wyoming Game and Fish Department regional supervisor Brad Hovinga said Sunday the grizzlies that were killed matched the description of those that killed 37-year-old outfitter Mark Uptain. Uptain’s body was found Saturday in the Teton Wilderness east of…
Up to 23 bears could be killed in the hunts planned in Wyoming and Idaho. Judge already delayed them once, in an order that came two days before grizzly season was set to open Sept. 1.
“We will now await further information about whether the bears will remain under state management or if they go back to federal management.”
Judge declines to issue quick ruling, says he will issue a decision as quickly as possible, but did not say whether he would rule before Saturday, when Wyoming and Idaho have bear hunts scheduled to begin.
Public hunting of the animals could occur at some point in the future if federal officials move forward with plans to remove the population’s threatened species protections. No hunting plans have been crafted, but officials said if a hunt were to occur it would be constrained by the population objectives that were endorsed Thursday.
Shop our online store for products and gear: Print of the Year, Outdoor News History Book, Outdoor News Clothing and more!
