An adult female grizzly bear and two yearlings were captured last week near Ferndale by state wildlife officials.
The 226-pound, 7-year-old adult female was previously captured and translocated from the Ferndale area in 2014 and 2015, according to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. Due to the bear’s level of food conditioning and habituation, the interagency decision was made to remove it from the population. The adult female was captured and put down on July 15 just north of Loon Lake.
According to FWP Wildlife Manager Neil Anderson, the 104-pound yearling female and 123-pound yearling male were also captured and will be held temporarily at the FWP Wildlife Center in Helena while a search for a zoo is conducted.
Over the past two years, the bears were known to have killed chickens, ducks, and rabbits. They also got into bird feeders, cat food, chicken and rabbit feed, and horse grain. In the last two months, they also fed on waffles that had been put out to feed deer. After that, the bears began climbing up on porches and looking into windows. They also opened shed doors to gain access to livestock feed and deer that had been harvested, according to FWP.