200 bear conflicts reported in 2020

Between break-ins at grain silos, chicken killings and an influx of visitors to U.S. Forest Service lands, grizzly bear specialists in northwest Montana have had their hands full this year.

Within Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks Region 1, officials have captured 19 grizzly bears so far in 2020, according to Tim Manley, grizzly bear management specialist with the state agency. The figure is slightly above the average of 17 captures a year officials have recorded in the region, which includes Lincoln and Flathead Counties, since 1993.

Of the bears captured in Region 1 this year, the agency has euthanized six, Manley said during a Nov. 23 subcommittee meeting of the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee. Of the remaining 13 bears released in the wild, 11 are known to be alive. Officials lost GPS tracking signals for one of the captured bears and are investigating the illegal killing of another.

Throughout the year, Manley said the region received 200 bear conflict reports. Direct contact between humans and bears has resulted in a couple attacks in the area this year.

On Oct. 31, a father and a son from the Flathead Valley were charged by a female grizzly bear while hunting along a gated road north of Whitefish. Officials reported the bear attacked suddenly from a thick, wooded area along the road.

Both the father and the son sustained significant injuries before they were able to shoot and kill the bear. An investigation conducted by the Wildlife Human Attack Response Team found a deer carcass cached in the timber along the road.

During the meeting, Manley shared the story of a landowner who was attacked after following grizzly bear tracks with his daughter earlier this year. After slipping over a log during his pursuit, the man was charged by a female grizzly bear. Rather than using his pistol, the man sprayed the grizzly with bear spray from 10 to 15 feet away and made his escape with his daughter.

“Probably not a good decision to follow a female grizzly with cubs tracks into the woods but it turned out OK for him,” Manley said.

Following the attack, FWP officials interviewed the man for a testimonial on bear spray.

Most of the bear conflict reports filed this year in Region 1 concerned contact scenarios similar to those recorded in years past. These included bears getting into yards, garbage, bird feeders, fruit trees and killing living livestock such as pigs, chickens and a llama.

Manley said that breaking into grain silos has become a new trend in bear activity.

To deter bears from continuing to ransack livestock pens and food storage facilities, Manley has worked with landowners to install electric fencing. When installing a fence isn’t feasible, Manley has created deterrents by electrifying metal doors or pallets wrapped in chicken wire.

Illegal bear feeding has persisted, according to Manley. He noted that Eureka Hardware is selling deer blocks which are illegal for landowners to use in the region.

“It’s not illegal to sell them but… you’re essentially setting landowners up to break the law,” Manley said.

An influx of visitors to U.S. Forest Service campgrounds in the region has also led to an increase in bear attractants in the area.

“We had a lot of people camping anywhere they can… you drive down Hungry Horse Reservoir, there were people camped basically on the pavement.”

FWP officials previously reported a 24.4 percent spike in Montana state park visitation this year. Between January and September of 2020, more than 3 million residents flocked to the parks as shutdowns limited urban recreation, according to a Nov. 20 release from the agency.