Two young female grizzlies relocated to the Cabinet Mountains
by Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks
June 20, 2014
Two young female grizzly bears were relocated to the Cabinet Mountains as part of the Cabinet Mountains grizzly bear population augmentation program.
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP) captured the two 2-year olds grizzly bears in Deadhorse Creek in the Whitefish Range (Flathead National Forest). The bears are siblings and were captured in the backcountry specifically to be relocated to the Cabinet Mountains as part of an on-going grizzly bear population augmentation program. The bears have no history of conflict with humans and have never been captured before. The bears were relocated to the Cabinet Mountains and released above Spar Lake in the Kootenai National Forest.
This program is an on-going effort to boost and recover the grizzly bear population in the Cabinet Mountains and is a cooperative effort between FWP and the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). Under the program, FWP captures bears in backcountry areas of the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem and USFWS monitors the animals after their release in the Cabinet Mountains. All grizzly bears relocated to the Cabinets are monitored with a radio collar until their collars drop off. The collars utilize the global positioning system (GPS) to gather locations every few hours in order to follow the bears’ movements.
The relocation of these female grizzly bears marks the twelfth and thirteenth grizzly bears to be released into the Cabinet Mountains as part of this cooperative population augmentation program since 2005.
For more information, contact Kim Annis, FWP Libby Area Bear Management Specialist, at 406-291-1320 or Wayne Kasworm, USFWS CYE Grizzly Bear Research Biologist, at 406-293-4161 x205.
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