GREAT FALLS — Montana and federal wildlife officials are investigating after a grizzly bear was found with a gunshot wound last month.
The Great Falls Tribune reports state Fish, Wildlife and Parks officials killed the bear Monday on the Marias River near Shelby.
Officials say the 3-year-old male bear was unlikely to survive the wound and presented concerns to public safety.
The bear was federally protected as part of the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem grizzly population.
State wildlife officials had first encountered the bear last October near Choteau. It was trapped, collared and released on national forest land.
The bear entered prairie lands along the Marias River this summer and was shot July 26. Wildlife officials had attempted to trap the bear at that time but were unsuccessful.