State wildlife officials have captured and relocated an adult female grizzly bear and her 2-year-old cub after they caused considerable damage to a fruit orchard near Lake Blaine west of Kalispell.
Fish, Wildlife and Parks grizzly bear management specialist Tim Manley says the 18-year-old female and her male cub were captured Wednesday and Thursday, fitted with radio collars and relocated to the Puzzle Creek drainage southeast of Marias Pass.
Manley says the residents were working on picking the fruit, but the bears were getting in and breaking branches on 30-year-old trees.
About 1,000 feet of temporary electric fencing was installed around the trees to protect them and to get the bears to notice the bait in the traps.