Grizzly Mortality Reported

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490 N. Meridian Road, Kalispell, MT.   59901

CONTACT: John Fraley   406-751-4564   (office)                         EMAIL:   jfraley@mt.gov

 REGION ONE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 17, 2006 ****************************************************************************

GRIZZLY MORTALITY REPORTED Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service report the death of a 2-year old male grizzly bear in western Montana during a trapping operation last week in the North Fork Flathead River drainage.   The bear was captured and released on July 10 and found dead on July 11.   The exact cause of death is pending until the complete necropsy has been completed by the FWP laboratory in Bozeman.   Preliminary results indicate that the bear may have died of complications due to capture.

Rick Mace, Bear Research Biologist for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, reiterated that the rate of capture deaths due to capture and handling is low for grizzly bears. However, whenever one captures and immobilizes wild animals there is always a risk of death.  

“Officials must balance that risk with the benefits to research and population augmentation programs,” said Mace. “Our capture specialists are continually improving their techniques to minimize that risk.” 

Biologists had been attempting to capture a female grizzly bear that could either be monitored for population trend in the ecosystem, or could be moved to the Cabinet Mountains in an effort to augment that population. Because the grizzly bear population in the Cabinets is deemed critically small, officials hope to bolster that population by moving several females to that area each year for several more years. 



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