WYOMING — As part of ongoing efforts required under the Endangered Species Act to monitor the population of grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD) will conduct capture operations in areas throughout northwest Wyoming beginning this spring and continuing through early fall.
Similarly, biologists working with the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team and Yellowstone National Park will begin field captures in the park on May 1 and continue through Oct. 31.
The WGFD told Buckrail that exact capture locations are not publicized in order to protect the public and the bears.
According to the WGFD, once a grizzly is captured, the animals will be marked, released on site and monitored in accordance with guidelines developed jointly by the WGFD and the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team (IGBST). The bears are handled with strict safety and animal care protocols developed by the IGBST.
Biologists use natural food sources such as fresh road-killed deer and elk to attract bears. Potential capture sites are baited with these natural foods and if indications are that grizzly bears are in the area, culvert traps or sometimes foot snares, will also be used.
“The annual monitoring of this population is vital to the ongoing management and conservation of grizzly bears in Wyoming,” the WGFD states on its website. “Information obtained through these efforts is used to assess the status and health of grizzly bears in the ecosystem and provides insight into population dynamics critical to demonstrate the continued recovery and conservation of grizzly bears.”
Whenever bear capture activities are being conducted for scientific purposes, the area around the site will be posted with bright warning signs to inform the public of the activities occurring. These signs are posted along the major access points to the capture site. It is important that the public heed these signs and do not venture into an area that has been posted.
For more information regarding grizzly bear capture efforts, call the Department’s Lander regional office at 307-332-2688.
