Young grizzlies didn't hibernate after mother was killed

A sighting of two young grizzlies in the Mission Valley this past week is the ongoing saga of an unusual and sad story from last summer, the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes’ Wildlife Management Program posted Thursday on its Facebook page.

“While occasional poaching of grizzly bears is an unfortunate and avoidable reality on the Flathead Reservation, we believe these young cubs were the offspring of a female grizzly bear that was shot and killed last fall,” the post said. “Because these were cubs-of-the-year, meaning this was their first year alive and out with their mother, she would have lead them back to their den for hibernation last fall.”

Hibernation is an adaptation to a seasonal shortage of food, low environmental temperatures and snow cover on the ground.

“They would have emerged again, all together this spring, to learn from her one more year before she could breed again and they would disperse out on their own,” the report noted. However, because they were not taught what to do when the temperatures got colder, they just kept roaming around the valley and eating.”

The young bears had not been seen (or at least reported) until the recent cold snap.

The family group was caught by CSKT wildlife biologists; the female was fitted with a tracking collar and they were released. The CSKT Wildlife Program tracked their movements around the valley, until the observed a problem with the collar. Due to an ongoing investigation, the tribes cannot elaborate any further on this case.

This was not the only illegally shot female grizzly bear during the summer of 2018, the Facebook post noted.

“Along with a record year for highway mortality of grizzly bears and their cubs (six confirmed dead and two probable), there were three poached female grizzly bears on the Flathead Reservation. Two lactating females were shot and killed in the Moiese area, and one near St. Ignatius,” the post said.

The Wildlife Program acknowledged that grizzly cubs roaming in the area can add stress to cattle ranchers dealing with calving season.

“We are aware of the concern and are working actively (tribal and federal biologists and conservation officers) to attempt to capture them or haze them away from the calving area where they have been seen,” the post said. Anyone who observes a grizzly threatening livestock should call Tribal Dispatch at 406-675-4700 and a conservation officer will respond and act accordingly.