Beware The Bears !

 Just last week officials closed an area north of Gardiner where bears were feeding on an elk carcass. The elk had been shot by a hunter. As he walked toward the downed animal several bears came out of the trees and began to feed on it. The hunter retreated and called Fish, Wildlife and Parks officials.

About 10 years ago a hunter was killed on the Blackfoot/Clearwater Game Range area when he was attacked by a grizzly bear. Game officials then said it appeared the bear had heard the gunshot and came to investigate. They also theorized that bears were beginning to equate rifle shots with food.

Biologists have captured and relocated nine grizzly bears in northwestern Montana over the past two weeks. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks said that eight of the bears were captured in several incidents in the northeastern Flathead Valley. The bears included a female with two young cubs, a female with a yearling, two young males and an adult male. Most of the were bears fitted with radio collars or ear-tag transmitters and released in more remote sites including Frozen Lake, Spotted Bear, and the Sullivan Creek drainage. A 3-year-old male grizzly was captured and relocated in the Yaak Valley after it killed some chickens.

Wildlife officials in the Northern Rockies want to sharpen their grizzly bear safety message after two hikers were fatally mauled over the summer in Yellowstone National Park. The Yellowstone region's grizzly population has expanded in recent years to about 600 bears. Visitor numbers are way up at Yellowstone National Park. Last year there were a record 3.6 million visitors. Chief Ranger Tim Reid says the park has done well instructing hikers who camp overnight about the dangers of traveling in bear country. He says the park has been less successful reaching day hikers such as the two mauling victims.