A Montana Grizzly Bear's Astonishing 5,000-Mile Journey

They named her Ethyl, like the fuel additive that carries travelers on long journey.

And her journey was so unbelievably long that biologists did a reboot on conventional wisdom of what they believed were normal nomadic habits among the species. It's a fascinating look back at the ultimate "grizzly globetrotter."

So says Mark Heinz with Wyoming's all-digital media source, Cowboy State Daily. Mark shares the fascinating story of Ethyl, who logged 5,000 miles across Montana and Idaho.

After some skirmishes with humans in her home range of Montana's Flathead Valley, Ethyl was twice-relocated and went on a two-year journey. A tracking collar placed on her in 2014 tracked her every move.

Ethyl went as far away from home as the Bitterroot-Selway region of Idaho, but was apparently not satisfied with her new surroundings and made her way back into Montana.

And then her collar came off.

Therein lies the mystery of her whereabouts. Ethyl was hardly a kid, 20 at the time the collar was lost, and likely no longer living. That only adds to the intrigue of why a senior bear would embark on such a trek. In the Cowboy State Daily story, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks research biologist Cecily Costello speculates, "It may have been that she was trying to find her way back to where she lived. After relocation, some bears can beeline back to where they were from. In other cases, it takes them awhile to orient themselves."

Whatever the case, Mark Heinz is spot-on pointing out that Ethyl has given wildlife researchers keen insight into bear behavior.

You can check out more details in Mark's outstanding article here.