JACKSON HOLE, WYO – A subadult female grizzly bear was captured and relocated on September 29. To reduce the potential for future conflicts, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department moved the bear after it began frequenting a residential area in close proximity to housing along the South Fork of the Shoshone River, southwest of Cody, Wyo. In cooperation with the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the Caribou-Targhee National Forest, the bear was relocated to Fall River drainage in the Winegar Hole Wilderness between Bechler Falls and Grassy Lake Reservoir.
Bears that are considered a threat to human safety are not relocated. Grizzly bear relocation is a management tool afforded to large carnivore biologists to minimize conflicts between humans and grizzly bears and is critical to the management of the population.
When other options are exhausted or unattainable, Game and Fish will attempt to capture the bear. Once the animal is captured, all circumstances are taken into account when determining if the individual should be relocated or removed from the population. If relocation is warranted, the selection of a relocation site is determined taking into consideration the age, sex, and type of conflict the bear was involved in as well as potential human activity in the vicinity of the relocation site.
Consultation with the appropriate personnel and agencies occurs to minimize the chance of future conflicts and maximize the survival potential of the relocated grizzly bear. Bears that are deemed an immediate threat to human safety are not released back into the wild.
Bears are relocated in accordance with state and federal law and regulation. Game and Fish continues to stress the importance of the public’s responsibility in bear management and the importance of keeping all attractants (food items, garbage, horse feed, bird seed, and others) unavailable to bears. Reducing attractants available to bears reduces human-bear conflicts.
