A 3-year old male grizzly bear was captured in the Deep Creek drainage near Fortine on May 23 and released in the Spotted Bear drainage the following day.
The grizzly bear was very habituated to human activity and being around homes, according to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. The bear was not involved in any reported conflicts, nor did it get into garbage but it was often spotted feeding in yards and pastures adjacent to barns and houses, FWP spokesperson John Fraley said.
Fraley said landowners were concerned about how much time the bear was spending around homes. The decision was made to capture the bear and translocate it to a more remote location.
This bear was first captured on Aug. 10, 2016 in Whitefish on Dakota Avenue where he was feeding in fruit trees. He was fitted with a GPS radio collar and released near Frozen Lake on the Canadian border. After his release, he moved east to Waterton Lakes National Park in Alberta. After about a week, he moved south into Glacier National Park and ended up spending the rest of the fall in the upper Bowman Creek area.
He denned near Hole-in-the-Wall and Boulder Pass. After emerging from his den, he traveled down to the North Fork River and then in 12 hours crossed the Whitefish Range and ended up in the Deep Creek area near Fortine.
Most of his GPS locations showed that he was spending a majority of his time in wet meadows and forested areas away from homes, but there were a number of locations that confirmed he was also spending time next to houses, FWP says. After talking with landowners, FWP staff determined that one of the reasons the bear might have been in some of the pastures was because he was feeding on ground squirrels that landowners had been shooting.
All of the radio-collared grizzly bears have emerging from their dens and due to the large amount of snow in the mountains, several grizzly bears have moved into the lower elevations where the vegetation has greened up.
FWP has received reports of grizzly bears and have responded to calls in the Eureka, Whitefish, Columbia Falls, and Ferndale areas. Residents are reminded to secure attractants such as garbage, pet food, livestock feed, and bird seed. For more information on electric fencing and living in bear country visit here.