GREAT FALLS – Two grizzlies will be moved from the Rocky Mountain Front to the Flathead area due to a livestock death.
The Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) Prairie Bear Monitor reported a female grizzly and a yearling were captured after a livestock depredation on lower Dupuyer Creek near Valier.
The female grizzly had a conflict about 22 years ago when her family group was involved in a sheep death.
The old female and her yearling will be translocated to the North Fork of the Flathead drainage and monitored closely, according to FWP.
The removal of the grizzlies from the Dupuyer Creek area comes after two grizzlies were euthanized for killing livestock.
A young, male grizzly was euthanized in the Sun River Valley on May 1 after killing several calves while a sub-adult male grizzly was put down in the Helmville Valley in late April for its involvement in livestock depredations.
FWP also recently released information concerning a grizzly bear that was shot and killed by a landowner west of Augusta on April 13.
Montana FWP Prairie Bear Monitor warned people in the Marias River area near the Interstate 15 bridge about bear activity. Shelby’s Marias Valley Golf Course is in the vicinity.
Wildlife officials continue to remind landowners and recreationists to be bear aware as grizzlies are out of their dens along the Rocky Mountain Front.
They advised removing or securing attractants such as livestock feed, bird feeders, pet food, garbage, spilled grain and livestock carcasses.
