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No Charges for Landowner Who Killed Grizzly Bear

By Beacon Staff

RONAN – Wildlife officials with the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes say no charges will be filed against a Ronan-area landowner who shot and killed a female grizzly bear.

Pablo Espinoza, chief of Tribal Fish and Game, says the landowner shot the bear about 3 miles east of Ronan on May 14 when it returned to the area after killing chickens earlier in the day. He said Monday that authorities determined the shooting was justifiable self-defense.

The same weekend the grizzly was shot in Ronan, an antler hunter shot and killed a sow grizzly in the Blackfoot-Clearwater Wildlife Management Area. The Missoulian reports Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks officials determined that also was justifiable self-defense, and no charges were filed.