Wildlife officials euthanized a 3-year old female grizzly bear after it caused problems in a subdivision in the Glenn Lake area near Eureka.
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks biologists captured the 177-pound grizzly after receiving numerous complaints of a bear approaching residences to seek food. The bear entered the Crystal Lakes subdivision and took a beaver carcass off a back porch and dog food that was left outside, according to FWP. The bear was euthanized on June 1.
“The grizzly was not wary around people and would approach vehicles and homes when people were present,” FWP Spokesperson John Fraley said in a statement. “Due to her past history of food conditioning and bold behavior, FWP decided to remove the bear.”
The bear was originally captured three years ago as a cub with her mother and sibling at a pig farm in the Pinkham Creek area, where they had gotten into pig feed, according to FWP. The bears were released in the Whale Creek drainage. In October of 2012, this bear was captured outside of Eureka after getting into garbage, and it’s believed that she is the bear that was seen along the river walk at Eureka. She was released into the lower Whale Creek drainage and denned north of Deep Mountain, where she dropped her radio collar. The bear returned to the Eureka area this spring.