HELENA – Authorities are investigating the death of a grizzly sow whose shot carcass was found on a river bottom near East Glacier.
Blackfeet tribe wildlife officials found the bear May 12, six days after receiving a landowner’s complaint that an adult bear and two cubs had killed a calf.
According to an affidavit filed Thursday by a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agent, there were no signs of the calf.
The Blackfeet officials discovered the bear’s carcass about a quarter-mile from the landowner’s home. A necropsy found two bullet wounds.
Federal officials suspect the bear was shot in violation of the Endangered Species Act. They have asked for a warrant to search the landowner’s home for a .22-caliber weapon.
It is the fourth reported grizzly shooting in western Montana this month.