Tag: grizzly bear

Grizzly bear euthanized on Yellowstone River outside park

The adult male grizzly bear, implicated in several home and vehicle break-ins, was shot near the Montana town of Gardiner.

Montana authorities on Thursday shot and killed an adult male grizzly bear on the Yellowstone River just outside Yellowstone National Park.

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks explained in a news release that the bear had become conditioned to unsecured food items in Gardiner and was implicated in several home and vehicle break-ins.

Repeated efforts by Fish, Wildlife & Parks and other agencies to trap and remove the bear were unsuccessful.

The bear was killed, FWP stated, because “the wide availability of unsecured attractants, combined with the bear being active almost exclusively at night, limited opportunities to remove the animal without creating additional human safety risks.”

Gardiner, on the Yellowstone River, at twilight. Photo: ©Pete Thomas

Gardiner is just outside Yellowstone National Park’s North Entrance. The Yellowstone River runs through the park and town en route to its confluence with the Missouri River.

Early Thursday, FWP received a report of a bear that had broken into a home just north of Gardiner. The bear was located in the Yellowstone River and shot.

Tests conducted after the carcass had been recovered confirmed that it was the problem bear.

FWP urges residents and motorists to secure food items and is working with property owners to upgrade garbage storage and install electric fencing.

Gardiner is no stranger to incursions by large critters. Elk commonly stroll through town and wolves have been known to hunt elk in the area.

Last spring, a wolf pack from Yellowstone National Park devoured a cow elk, leaving only partial remains, on the Gardiner School football field.

The wolves killed the elk after dark on April 11 and had vanished back into the park before dawn on April 12.

Shaking and with fear in her voice, hiker endures scary bear encounter

A hiker in Glacier National Park videotaped the tense moments she endured as a grizzly bear followed her on the trail.

A hiker in Glacier National Park in Montana noticed fresh signs of a bear nearby and consciously kept a watchful eye as she progressed down the trail.

“I listen for the birds and smaller animals to warn me of a bigger threat based on their actions,” Amanda Wylie wrote on TikTok.

“That’s when I watch a prairie dog leap from my right side, to the left side of the trail. I thought to myself: how many bears have seen me while I haven’t seen them? I look to my right to find a grizzly [twice] my size on his hind legs, paws up. Terrified, I reminded myself not to run and said aloud, ‘Oh my god, it’s happening.’

“The safety video I watched before getting my backcountry permit immediately played in my mind. I took out my bear spray, got low and backed away slowly from the bear. I talked to him nice, and once I felt a safe enough distance away, I got my phone out to record, wondering if these would be my last moments.”

@twobraidsontrail July 4th I had my first Grizzly encounter… I noticed Bear tracks in the mud, fresh scat, and dug up roots. I kept my eyes peeled but saw no threat and kept hiking. I listen for the birds and smaller animals to warn me of a bigger threat based on their actions. That’s when I watch a prairie dog leap from my right side, to the left side of the trail I thought to myself: how many bears have seen me while I haven’t seen them?I look to my right to find a grizzly 2x my size on his hind legs, paws up. Terrified, I reminded myself not to run and said aloud “oh my god, it’s happening.” The safety video I watched before getting my backcountry permit immediately played in my mind. I took out my bear spray, got low and backed away slowly from the bear. I talked to him nice and once I felt a safe enough distance away, I got my phone out to record wondering if these would be my last moments. Any sudden or unexpected behaviors by me could have turned this curious grizzly into a defensive one. He followed me down the trail, off the trail and eventually shook his body, which let me know I could relax a little. Once he turned away I rejoiced, knowing I would live to see another day and have an amazing encounter story to share. After all is said and done, l’d still choose the bear. #manvsbear #glaciernationalpark #montana #bearcountry #grizzlybear ♬ original sound – TwoBraidsOnTrail

Shaking and with fear in her voice, Wylie spoke to the grizzly bear, saying “You’re OK, you’re OK,” and “Please go, please go.”

“Any sudden or unexpected behaviors by me could have turned this curious grizzly into a defensive one,” Wylie wrote. “He followed me down the trail, off the trail and eventually shook his body, which let me know I could relax a little.

“Once he turned away I rejoiced, knowing I would live to see another day and have an amazing encounter story to share.”

Hunter mistakenly kills grizzly bear, but it wasn’t hunter’s mistake

After an investigation that left the Idaho Fish and Game in an embarrassing position, the hunter was not issued a citation.

A bear hunter in Idaho believed they had killed a black bear when in reality it was a protected grizzly bear, but it wasn’t the hunter’s fault. It was Idaho Fish and Game’s fault.

The unidentified hunter sent Fish and Game recorded videos of the bear at the legal bait site two days before the shooting. Hunting in an area not known to have grizzly bears, the hunter was concerned that the bear was a grizzly and not a black bear.

“Unfortunately, Fish and Game staff misidentified the young bear as a black bear because it lacked some common features of a grizzly, and shared that misidentification with the hunter,” the Idaho Fish and Game stated in a press release.

“After shooting the bear and then identifying it at the scene as a grizzly, the hunter immediately contacted Fish and Game and fully cooperated with the investigation.

“Fish and Game regrets the mistake made by its staff, the undue stress the situation caused for the hunter and the loss of the grizzly bear. Fish and Game is reviewing its staff’s part in the incident as a personnel matter.”

The incident occurred in Unit 6 of Idaho’s Panhandle, an area not commonly used by grizzly bears.

On June 14, Fish and Game officials sent out a press release about the June 10 killing, stating, “grizzly bears are protected under state and federal law, and bear hunters are responsible for proper identification of their target.”

In this case, the hunter did the responsible thing in attempting to correctly identify the bear. Alas, embarrassingly, it was Fish and Game that got it wrong, apparently identifying both subadult males shown in the hunter’s videos as black bears. The videos were posted within the latest press release.

Not surprisingly, the hunter was not issued a citation.

Generic photo of a grizzly bear courtesy of Wikipedia Commons.

Famous white grizzly bear dies after tragic chain of events

The adult female grizzly bear, known for the rare coloration of her fur, met her fate just hours after losing both of her new cubs.

A famous white grizzly bear has died after being struck by a vehicle in British Columbia’s Yoho National Park – just hours after her two cubs were struck and killed on the same highway.

The collisions occurred June 6 on the Trans-Canada Highway in an area where roadside fencing was under repair.

The momma bear, nicknamed Nakoda and scientifically cataloged as GB178, was declared dead June 8 after her GPS collar issued a mortality signal. Parks Canada announced the bear’s death on June 10.

Nakoda with her cubs. Handout photo: Parks Canada

“It has actually devastated the team that was so deeply invested in really trying to prevent this outcome,” Saudi Stevens, a parks wildlife management specialist, said during a news briefing.

According to CBC News, Parks Canada employees were attempting to shoo Nakoda from the roadside when she was startled by a train and ran onto the highway and into the path of two vehicles.

“One vehicle was able to swerve and avoid a collision, but a second vehicle was unable to react in time and struck the bear,” a Parks Canada statement reads.

Nakoda was last seen running toward the woods with a limp and scaling a fence. It was hoped that she had not suffered serious injuries.

Stevens continued: “So many staff are actually working hard to make roads safer for wildlife and we really want to emphasize to visitors the importance of not stopping and lingering to view wildlife, to drive cautiously and to obey the speed limits.”

Nakoda was easily identifiable because of the platinum-blond coloration of her fur. She was known to appear in roadside meadows and ditches each spring to feast on wild dandelions.

She and her new cubs were only weeks out of hibernation when the vehicle strikes occurred.

–Top image showing Nakoda feeding on dandelions is courtesy of Gary Tattersall

Canada man attacked by grizzly bear while tracking black bear

The 36-year-old man suffered significant injuries, including broken bones, during an attack that turned out even worse for the grizzly bear.

A 36-year-old British Columbia man suffered significant injuries during a grizzly bear attack that occurred as he and his father tracked a black bear with dogs.

According to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Sparwood resident suffered “numerous injuries, broken bones and lacerations to his body during the attack,” which occurred May 16 south of Elkford.

“The man was able to defend himself with his firearm and the bear ran off,” the RCMP continued Monday in a news release. “The other man, his father, called for help.”

The incident occurred in rugged terrain on a steep mountainside. Several agencies participated in the rescue of the man, who was airlifted to Calgary Foothills Hospital and listed in stable condition.

A Conservation Officer team later found the adult grizzly bear dead in the same area.

The spring black bear hunting season in British Columbia runs through June 30. Grizzly bear hunting is banned in the province.

–Generic grizzly bear image courtesy of ©Pete Thomas

Montana antler hunter kills grizzly bear during tense encounter

The man, who was not carrying bear spray, drew a handgun and fired five shots at the charging bear.

A Montana shed-antler hunter shot and killed an aggressive grizzly bear last week shortly after spotting the animal’s tracks.

According to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, the incident occurred April 25 on private land near Wolf Creek, as the man searched for shed antlers with two dogs.

“After seeing a fresh grizzly bear track in a snow patch, he continued along his path and a few minutes later he first saw the bear standing near the top of the ridge about 20 yards away,” FPW explained in a news release.

“The bear dropped to all four legs and charged the man, who drew his handgun and fired five shots from distances about 30 feet to 10 feet, grazing the bear with a one shot and hitting and killing it with another shot.”

The man was not carrying bear spray.

The 12-year-old, 300-pound bear was a momma with a new cub. The cub was captured and will likely spend its life in a zoo.

Grizzly bear cub breaks out moves in hilarious trail-cam footage

The approaching bears are robust and the vibe is suspenseful until one cub pauses to scratch its back on a tree.

An organization that monitors wild horses in Alberta, Canada, has published a video “re-run” showing a grizzly bear with two large cubs approaching a trail camera.

The bears are robust and the music is suspenseful until one cub pauses to scratch its back on a tree, at which point the audio becomes lively and the mood upbeat.

The footage was captured in 2022 and edited by the Help Alberta Wildies Society, which uses remote motion-sensor cameras to help monitor wild horse herd sizes and behaviors.

Grizzly bears share the same habitat and HAWS has published several clips showing bears trying to run down a foal or catch a fallen horse.

Most HAWS social-media videos are sharp and cleverly edited.

An editor stated Wednesday via Facebook: “I’m waiting for a new iMac computer to arrive, hopefully tomorrow, before I can build new movies. In the meantime we can watch some re-runs.”

Grizzly bears are ‘awake and active’ in Banff National Park

A research animal identified as Bear 122 or “The Boss” is believed to have been the first grizzly bear spotted out of hibernation.

The first grizzly bear sighting of 2024 has been logged in Canada’s Banff National Park, according to social media reports.

The park on Thursday confirmed that “bears are awake and active” in the country’s oldest and most popular national park, located in Alberta’s  Rockies.

“To ensure the safety of wildlife and the public during this sensitive time of increased activity, area closures may be implemented as needed,” the park stated via Facebook.

Chateau Mountain Sports identified the grizzly bear involved in the first sighting as Bear 122, a.k.a. “The Boss.”

“The Boss is awake! Act busy,” the rental and retail company advised ts Instagram followers.

The park advised tourists to visit its bear safety page before visiting. The page contains advice on how to avoid encounters and how to react during every type of encounter.

A common theme: Stay calm and never run because running is likely to trigger an attack response.

Male grizzly bears are first to emerge from hibernation. They’re typically followed weeks later by female bears with cubs.

–Grizzly bear image courtesy of Banff National Park

Watch as giant grizzly bear executes perfect back scratch

Trail-cam footage from the Yukon Territory shows several bears expressing interest in the same pine tree.

A compilation of trail-cam footage from Canada’s Yukon Territory shows grizzly bears expressing specific interest in the same tree at various points in 2022.

The accompanying footage, shared Wednesday by Yukon Wildlife Cams, also shows moose on the same remote trail, including one that appears suspicious about the camera.

But on three occasions a grizzly bear is seen using the tree as a scratching post, which is how bears deposit their scents to communicate with other bears.

The most rigorous scratch occurs at 1:30, involving a large grizzly bear that spends several seconds executing its technique: standing on hind legs, clutching a branch for leverage, and rubbing deeply against the trunk.

The bear even sticks its tongue out at times, as if enjoying a sensation that anyone who loves a thorough back scratch can appreciate.

Yukon Wildlife Cams showcases the region’s wildlife with footage captured from several trail-cam locations.

One of our favorite clips involves a massive grizzly bear scent-marking a tree before charging in slow motion toward the camera, lending a unique perspective of what a grizzly bear charge in a person’s direction might look like.

Giant Yukon grizzly bear provides riveting trail-cam moment

A trail-cam operator in Canada’s Yukon Territory has shared several compelling grizzly bear video clips recently, but one stands out above the others.

Last week, a trail-cam operator shared video footage that revealed his “near encounters” with grizzly bears in Canada’s Yukon Territory.

This week, David Troup of Yukon Wildlife Cams shared footage showing a “marvelous” grizzly bear scent-marking a tree on which one of his cameras was attached.

It was reminiscent of perhaps Troup’s most compelling related footage: that of a massive grizzly bear back scratching, or scent-marking a tree before charging toward the camera.

The accompanying slow-motion footage, captured by Yukon Trail Cams in August 2021, lends a unique perspective of what a grizzly bear charge in your direction might look like.

Reads one of the more popular comments: “Can you imagine standing where the trail camera is?”

Another: “Remember, you only have to be faster than your hiking partner!”

Troup maintains a network of trail cameras in the Yukon and periodically shares footage to showcase the region’s wildlife.