Montana's Bears Are Back!

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It was a restless winter slumber for Montana bears—some were awakened as early as February with spring like weather conditions and melting snow leaking into their dens. 

A bear that was relocated last year to a remote area on the Montana Idaho border returned to den in a Missoula city park. It had to be destroyed the first week in March because it was out of its den and already getting into garbage and approaching people. 

"A lot of bears disturbed early went back to den, but we had a brief period when some bears were awakened early and out and about," said Jamie Jonkel, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks bear specialist in Montana.  

Some bears on the eastern Rocky Mountain Front, including grizzlies, had similar interrupted hibernations, according to Mike Madel, FWP bear specialist in the Choteau area. 

"We’ve already had a handful of reports of black bear sightings and some unconfirmed reports of grizzly bear activity at the higher elevations," Madel said. 

FWP bear managers say that food sources for bears are available now but there is real concern about how bears will fare during what is expected to be a very dry summer. 

"Spring bear foods like green grass and forbs are available in Western Montana, but the drier the year the more food sources for bears are likely to dwindle or fail," Jonkel said. "Another downside is that in very dry years the highest food producing areas are riparian zones, so more bears are in river creek bottoms throughout the summer—which leads to human conflicts with bears."  

FWP bear managers are urging people to be especially vigilant this year in eliminating bear attractants and in helping their neighbors and communities to do the same.