Outside of Glacier, Bob, grizzlies live precarious lives

By CHRIS PETERSON / Hungry Horse News

The life of a grizzly bear outside of Glacier National Park or the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex is a decidedly risky proposition.

The number of bears killed inside Glacier by humans since 1999 was just one — and it was an old bear that may have died as a result of a capture for research. In the Bob, where there are few people and no roads, the number was zero.

Inside the Park, folks don't tote guns and garbage, as well as vehicle traffic, is more closely controlled.

Outside the Park grizzlies run into people with guns and cars and trains and garbage cans full of good eats, and the prospects of survival grow more dim.

In 2007 there were 25 recorded grizzlies killed by humans, grizzly bear recovery coordinator Chris Servheen of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said, and that number may actually be as high as 30 — there are five other bears that were found dead, but the cause of their death hasn't been determined. Servheen released his findings last Thursday during a multi-agency meeting of bear biologists and managers in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem.

Of the bear deaths, five were killed by trains and seven were hit by cars. The number killed by cars was a record.

Many of those collisions were along the U.S. Highway 2 corridor south of the Park.

"The Highway 2 corridor is a point of concern," Servheen noted.

Just two of the deaths were through management actions — which is to say they had to be euthanized for getting into trouble with humans.

That number is likely lower because of better public education and public awareness about securing garbage, bird feeders and other human caused food sources. Also, it was a fairly good year for natural bears foods like berries, at least west of the Divide.

Since 1999 there have been 172 human-caused deaths of grizzly bears in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem.

While last year was a good year, bears that get into human foods — everything from trash to livestock — often end up dead. Getting into human foods, which includes eating livestock, is the number-one cause of death for grizzlies since 1999.

Thirty-four percent of all human-caused grizzly deaths are related to human food sources. Tied for second are auto and train deaths and illegal deaths, like poaching and mistaken identity deaths by hunters, at 26 percent.

The most dangerous month to be a griz?

October, Servheen's research found.

That's likely due to two things: Bears are in hyperphagia, a state where they eat almost continuously to store up fat for the winter and hunting season.

In short, bears are on the move and there's a lot of people in the woods with guns.

The safest month, aside from the hibernation months, is actually July. Ironically, July has the most humans in the woods — recreating and otherwise. But it's also a good food month, as berries are coming on and food is generally easy for bruins to find.

Despite the mortalities, bears seem to be expanding their range. Last year one mauled a bird hunter in Valier, which is roughly 34 miles from the Rocky Mountain Front.

Servheen predicted the eastward expansion of bears would continue.

"I expect in 20 years we will see bears on the Missouri River," he said.