BILLINGS – Grizzly bear numbers in the three-state region in and around Yellowstone National Park have hit their highest level in decades.
Scientists from a multi-agency research team will announce Wednesday that at least 603 grizzlies now roam the Yellowstone area of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho.
That’s about three times the number when the species was put on the endangered list in 1975.
But more bears also means more run-ins with humans. At least 45 grizzlies have been killed this year, most of them by hunters or wildlife agents. The last time so many bears died, 2008, the population dipped the next year.
Two people have been fatally mauled by grizzlies in 2010 — one east of Cody, Wyo. and another near Cooke City, Mont.