MORAN, Wyo. — On June 28, after consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD) captured and relocated two subadult male grizzly bears to the Boone Creek drainage approximately 28 miles northwest of Moran.
According to the National Park Service, the lifetime home range of a male grizzly bear is 800 to 2,000 square miles.
A WGFD press release says the bears were captured and relocated as a preemptive move to reduce conflict potential after the bears had localized outside of suitable habitat in Park County near Heart Mountain.
The bears were relocated in cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Caribou-Targhee National Forest, in accordance with state and federal law and regulation. The WGFD is required to update the public whenever a grizzly bear is relocated.
According to the WGFD, grizzly bear relocation is a management tool large carnivore biologists use to minimize conflicts between humans and grizzly bears. It is critical to managing the expanding population of grizzly bears in Wyoming; capture is necessary when other deterrents or preventative options are exhausted or unattainable.
If relocation is warranted, a site is determined by considering the age, sex and type of conflict the bear was involved in, the WGFD says, as well as potential human activity nearby. Grizzly bears are only relocated into the recovery zone or adjacent areas.
With any relocation, the WGFD consults with appropriate agencies to minimize the chance of future conflicts and maximize the relocated grizzly bear’s survival. Bears that are considered a threat to human safety are not relocated, and in some cases may be removed from the population.
The WGFD continues to stress the importance of the public’s responsibility in bear management and the importance of keeping all attractants such as food, garbage, horse feed and bird seed unavailable to bears. Reducing attractants available to bears reduces human-bear conflicts, and in some cases, relocations.
