Two grizzly bears have been busy exploring their new home after being relocated to the Greater Yellowstone Area from the North Fork of the Flathead River in Montana.
The two sub-adult bears, one male and one female, were chosen for relocation based on their age, lack of previous conflict and lack of a settled home range, according to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.
The grizzlies, both subadults, were moved to the GYE as a way to hopefully introduce some genetic diversity to the isolated population there. The male bear was taken by boat to the southern end of Yellowstone Lake in Yellowstone National Park. The female was released in a remote location in the Blackrock Creek drainage west of Dubois, Wyoming.
Both bears were fitted with GPS collars that have tracked their movements within the area for the last few months.
“We are very pleased to see that both bears have remained in the [Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem], even staying mostly within remote areas of the Recovery Zone,” said Cecily Costello, FWP grizzly bear researcher. “It’s not always easy for a bear to adjust after being moved like this, but they seem to be settling in. We believe both have recently found a den site for the winter.”
Delisting grizzly bears
The news of these relocated bears comes as Montana and Wyoming are both pushing for rulings on their petitions to delist bears as endangered species in the GYE and the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem, which includes Glacier National Park. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was ordered by a U.S. District Court judge to finalize a ruling by January 20, 2025.
Currently, the grizzly bears in both areas are protected under the Endangered Species Act, which means the species is federally protected in these areas. Delisting the grizzly bear populations in these states would return management of the grizzly bears to the states.
State officials have spent more than $52 million on grizzly bear conservation efforts, and the species has more than doubled the population prescribed by the USFWS for full recovery, according to a press release from the Montana Governor’s Office.
“Montana has worked diligently to set up a framework to take over management of grizzly bears in our state,” Montana Governor Greg Gianforte said. “This translocation effort demonstrates our commitment to ensuring the conservation of bears in the NCDE and the GYE. It’s time to delist the grizzly bear and let the states take over management.”
The argument for continued protections
In response to the states’ petitions, Chris Servheen, who worked as a grizzly bear recovery coordinator for the USFWS for 35 years, released a report that argued for continued federal protections for grizzlies.
He argues the state of Montana does not “have adequate regulatory mechanisms” in place outside the areas covered by the NCDE and GYE conservation strategies.
Servheen believes that while the populations show encouraging growth, the states do not have “adequate mortality management mechanisms and habitat management mechanisms in place.” The absence of these mechanisms will make it difficult for the two ecosystems to connect.
The translocation of the two grizzly bears was a result of the Tri-State Memorandum of Agreement between Wyoming, Montana and Idaho. According to the governor’s press release, the agreement was established to “ensure the long-term genetic diversity of the GYE’s grizzly bear population and secure a genetic connection between the two areas and the recovered populations of bears.”
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