Grizzly bear euthanized after cattle killed near Avon
AVON – Wildlife officials euthanized a male grizzly bear on May 24 in the Ophir Creek area northeast of Avon. Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks wildlife specialists said the bear had been in the area consistently for the past month and killed several cows on a local ranch earlier this week.
The most recent cattle depredation was confirmed on May 23, and USDA Wildlife Services crews set traps on the site that evening. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service made the decision to have the bear euthanized due to its history of cattle depredations and persistence in staying near livestock.
Wyoming maintains stable gray wolf populations
Cheyenne – Wyoming Game and Fish Department wildlife managers say steady gray wolf populations and conflict trends indicate Wyoming has reached a stable point around the state’s wolf population objective. According to the 2020 Wyoming Gray Wolf Monitoring and Management annual report, Wyoming is maintaining wolf numbers at healthy levels using hunting, which also helps hold conflict numbers at bay.
Established population objectives for wolves are outlined in the Wyoming Gray Wolf Management Plan. That plan guides wolf management in Wyoming and is the plan the state will continue to implement following the 5-year post delisting monitoring period. Recovery criteria for Wyoming is 100 wolves and 10 breeding pairs outside Yellowstone National Park and the Wind River Reservation.
CPW rehabilitates young bear injured and orphaned
DENVER – After a rough beginning to life, a yearling black bear injured during the Camreon Peak Fire is back roaming the Colorado Rocky Mountains with a new lease on life.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) treated and rehabilitated this young bear for nearly five months before releasing it back into the mountains in Larimer County on May 5. Special circumstances and collaboration that spanned across landowners, wildlife officers, state wildlife health and wildlife rehabilitation officials allowed for the unique opportunity to treat this bear, but its natural survival instincts is really what kept it going.
Grizzly bear captured, moved from Avon area
AVON – Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks wildlife specialists captured and moved a male grizzly bear on May 6 in the Ophir Creek area northeast of Avon.
Over the past month, several grizzly bears have been confirmed in the immediate area, in close proximity to cattle calving grounds on local ranches. A grizzly killed a yearling cow in early April in the vicinity, and bears have continued to remain in the area since then.
Wildlife staff moved the bear out of the immediate area as a measure to help prevent further livestock loss during the spring calving season. They took the 429-pound male to a more remote area in the upper Blackfoot Valley.
Human remains in stomachs of bears caught near woman’s body in Durango
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – A Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) pathologist found human remains inside the stomachs of a sow and her yearling bear that CPW wildlife officers suspect of killing and eating a 39-year-old woman Friday north of Durango.
CPW’s wildlife pathologist found the remains in the digestive systems of the black bears Saturday night as she conducted necropsies of three bears at a CPW health lab in Fort Collins. A necropsy is a scientific dissection and examination of an animal, similar to an autopsy of a human.