July 3, 1998 The Missoulian .Young Yellowstone grizzly strays far from home, runs into trouble. story by Perry Backus, reporter for Montana Standard, Butte, Lee Newspapers.

'They cover a lot of country.' We're seeing them in places where we've never seen them before.' [says] Dave Nelson, Wildlife Services western district supervisor

DILLON - A 3-year-old male grizzly bear was snared, darted and removed this week from the Sweetwater Hills southeast of Dillon after it killed sheep.

The 250-pound bear had traveled from the interior of Yellowstone National Park, evidently searching for a new home, officials said. It was relocated to the park last fall after being captured near Gardiner, where it developed a taste for apples.

As the crow flies, it's about 100 miles from the interior of the park to Dillon.

The grizzly may have been hanging around the sagebrush-covered Sweetwater Hills for several weeks. Sheepherders there reported seeing a bear around their herds, said Graeme McDougal, a federal Wildlife Services specialist.

Several weeks ago McDougal looked at four dead sheep in the area that belonged to Joe Helle of Dillon. But, it was several days after the sheep had been killed. Because little of the carcasses remained, McDougal couldn't secure enough clues to determine what killed them.

Sunday night, however, Helle called again. Another dead ewe had been found. This time McDougal had something to go on: The size of the canine-tooth puncture wounds. The location of the bite. The pattern of how the animal was killed. And best yet - tracks, he said.

The tracks showed large claws extending well beyond the toe pads. The toe pads lined up straight across, unlike the half-moon shape of a black bear. And the telltale notch on the heel pad of the hind foot, he said.

"I knew then it was a grizzly we were dealing with," McDougal said Thursday.

He traded in his black bear snares for heavier ones made to hold a grizzly. By Tuesday afternoon he had four snares set. On Wednesday morning, he had snared the bear.

"When I drove up the bear was sleeping behind a log," McDougal said. "He sat up and looked at me and I could see I had a good catch on him so I backed off. The bear hardly stirred. He was one laid-back bear."

Fish, Wildlife and Parks wardens arrived and the bear was tranquilized, placed in a culvert trap and transported to Bozeman. McDougal said the bear was still sleeping when he and the wardens walked to him.

"The dart in the butt woke him up," he said. "He was down in about two and a half minutes and out in about four minutes." Dave Nelson, Wildlife Services western district supervisor, said this was the first call his office has received about a grizzly bear in the Sweetwater Hills area.

With the habitat in Yellowstone National Park beginning to fill, Nelson said grizzly bears are expanding their range.

"They can cover a lot of country," he said. "We're seeing them in places where we've never seen them before."

Perhaps no one was more surprised to see this particular bear so far away from its last known haunts than Fish, Wildlife and Parks grizzly bear management specialist Kevin Frey.

Frey was there last fall when the bear was captured in Gardiner and also when it was released in Yellowstone's interior.

"It took an amazing walk," he said. "It's a long ways, but it's not unprecedented. Wyoming has had a few go that far."

Frey said it is a classic example of a subadult male searching for new territory. The bears are capable of traveling remarkable distances. Too often, when a bear turns up in an unusual place, Frey said researchers can't be sure of where it came from. This time, without a doubt, they knew.

"That's what makes this so interesting. We can verify it," he said.

Unfortunately for the bear, the walk may be his last. Under grizzly bear recovery guidelines, it's doubtful that the bear will be released in the wild. Frey was busy Thursday afternoon looking for a zoo that would adopt it.

"It can get very complicated," he said. "Everyone is looking out for the welfare of the bear, but we have to do what's best for the whole bear recovery program. The way we handle this case can have ramifications for other bears."

An interagency bear recovery team that includes both state and federal biologists and land managers makes those decisions.

"This bear's first scrape was a minor one, but this time it killed sheep," Frey said. "That's what makes it difficult. There just aren't that many places (in the wild) we could put it without a risk it would get in trouble again."

McDougal said it's certain the bear killed two sheep and probably killed eight others, but there wasn't enough left of those carcasses for verification.