EBS STAFF
A grizzly bear with a history of conflict with people was euthanized on Sept. 2 after breaking into a house near West Yellowstone.
Early in the morning of Sept. 2, a homeowner reported a bear with a cub broke through a kitchen window of an occupied home and removed a container of dog food from inside the house, according to a press release from Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.
FWP staff and local law enforcement captured the cub that evening, and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service authorized those responding parties to shoot the adult grizzly due to an immediate public safety threat from the bear’s food-conditioned behavior.
According to FWP, the adult grizzly was a 10-year-old female. She was previously captured in 2017 for research purposes and was involved in an encounter in Idaho that injured a person near Henry’s Lake State Park in 2020. It was also confirmed through genetic analysis and other identifying factors as the bear involved in the fatal attack on a woman near West Yellowstone in July.
“While both incidents were assessed to be defensive responses by the bear, multiple efforts to trap and remove the bear were made after the fatal attack in July due to the incident’s proximity to residences, campgrounds and a high-use OHV trail system,” the release stated. “These efforts were unsuccessful.”
The 46-pound male cub is being held at FWP’s wildlife rehabilitation center in Helena. It will be transferred to a zoo, the release stated.
