August 10, 1999 Missoulian article: Officials relocate orphaned cub, search continues for its sibling by Michael Jamison, BIGFORK
When a hiker clinging to bark and branches to escape a curious bear, shot and killed a sow grizzly last month, he inadvertently orphaned two yearling cubs.
Sunday night, one of those cubs was released along the South Fork Flathead River after being captured near Bigfork. Both cubs, officials said, had moved into the valley, and were ranging near homes and Dumpsters.
"This was a preemptive move," said Harvey Nyberg, wildlife manager with the state Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks. "The bear was not aggressive toward people, but we still believed it was m the best interest of public safety, and in the best interest of the bear, to move it."
If the cub's female sibling can be captured, she will be relocated near her brother's release site.
The saga of the motherless cubs began last month, when 20-year-old Pete Donnelly hit the trail on a solo hike in the popular Jewel Basin area east of Bigfork. Donnelly was several days into his hike when he wandered into camp at Big Hawk Lake, noting piles of fresh bear scat and the smell of bear in the air.
Donnelly had spent the days before reaching Big Hawk Lake bushwhacking through thick undergrowth, and along the way had broken the trigger mechanism from his pepper spray. Nevertheless, he pitched his tent not far from the scat and cooked a meal of trout.
It may have been the smell of those roasting fish, some believe, that attracted the three bears into his camp. Donnelly first noticed the sow and two cubs when they diverted his attention from the book he was reading by a small creek. The three bears were trooping into his camp and, fearing for his life, the young man climbed a nearby tree.
From the relative safety of the small fir, Donnelly fired a round from his .38-caliber handgun to scare away the bruins. The two cubs walked a short distance from the camp, but the sow headed for his tree.
Scared the bear would attack, Donnelly fired three rounds, at least two of which hit home, killing the bear. Soon after, wildlife managers responding to the scene darted the cubs, fitting both with ear-tag transmitters before setting them loose.
The cubs, minus their mother, had since wandered out of the mountains in search of easy food, keying on the rural community of Ferndale, just Southeast of Bigfork. When wildlife officials tracked the bears into the valley, they hoped to capture both brother and sister to release them together into the wilds east of town. Once they captured the 100-pound male, however, they felt it best to release him as soon as possible.
They continue attempts to capture the female cub, with plans to reunite the pair in the safety of the South Fork wilderness back country.
CAG Comments:
People come to the Bitterroot Selway Frank Church Wilderness just because they know, at the present time they do not have to face situations like the one described above.
All of that will change in the near future if the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, that has been captured by Environmental interest groups such as Earth First, Friends of the Bitterroot, The National Audubon Society, Serria Club, National Wildlife Federation, and others, has its way. The plan is to introduce grizzly bears into wildernesses that have neither the climate or food supply to support the bears.
Grizzly bears, if introduced into these wilderenesses, will eventually come into the valley and folks will be scrambling to avoid a lawsuit for shooting and endangered species.
Doesn't make sense.
End CAG Comments