Cody – After consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department captured and relocated a subadult male grizzly bear on July 16.
The bear was captured for conflict with anthropogenic attractants on private land and relocated to the Fox Creek area approximately eight miles from the northeast entrance of Yellowstone National Park.
Grizzly bear relocation is a management tool large carnivore biologists use to minimize conflicts between humans and grizzly bears. It is critical to managing the expanding population of grizzly bears in Wyoming. Capture is necessary when other deterrents or preventative options are exhausted or unattainable.
Once the animal is captured, all circumstances are taken into account when determining if the individual should be relocated. If relocation is warranted, a site is determined by considering the age, sex, and type of conflict the bear was involved in as well as potential human activity nearby. Grizzly bears are only relocated into the recovery zone or adjacent areas. With any relocation, Game and Fish consults with appropriate agencies to minimize the chance of future conflicts and maximize the relocated grizzly bear’s survival.
Bears that are considered a threat to human safety are NOT relocated. In some cases, a bear may be removed from the population if it cannot be relocated successfully.
Game and Fish continues to stress the importance of the public’s responsibility in bear management and the importance of keeping all attractants such as food, garbage, horse feed and bird seed unavailable to bears. Reducing attractants available to bears reduces human-bear conflicts, and in some cases, relocations.
