Transplanted grizzly stays put in Cabinets

A female grizzly bear that was transplanted to the west Cabinet Mountains has

wandered west into isolated country rather than homing eastward toward the place where she

was captured.

A female grizzly bear that was transplanted to the west Cabinet Mountains has wandered west into isolated country rather than homing eastward toward the place where she was captured.

State and federal biologists and bear managers were hoping the 6- to 8-year old bear would settle in the Cabinets rather than trying to return to the North Fork Flathead drainage where she was captured on Sept. 30. Grizzly bears are known to have an uncanny ability to cross mountain ranges and lakes to return to their original home ranges.

"She has moved about four miles west-northwest of where we let her off the truck," said Wayne Kasworm, a bear biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "She's not into Idaho yet. She was still probably two miles from the Idaho line."

Kasworm last tracked the radio-collared bear on Oct. 6, and he estimates she'll be in the same general area when he flies this week to relocate her.

"She's in a higher elevation basin, several miles from the nearest road or trailhead," he said. "That's a good place for bears, a good distance away from things. She's in a place where we hoped she would set up a home range."

But there's still plenty of time for the bear to move great distances, considering that Kasworm has known grizzly bears to wait until late November to hibernate in the Cabinet Mountains.

"If she's going to go back home, she's got to go east. She hasn't done that yet, but it's pretty early in the game. There's a lot of things she could do yet," Kasworm said.

The bear's long-distance relocation on Oct. 2 was a milestone for the threatened Cabinet-Yaak grizzly bear population, officially estimated at fewer than 40 bears. She was the first bear to be moved from the separate and far more populated Northern Continental Divide grizzly bear recovery area.

There is speculation the bear could be pregnant. If so, her relocation could cause a population boom in the Cabinet Mountains, where there are believed to be fewer than 15 grizzly bears.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Forest Service and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks intend to relocate one or two bears to the Cabinets every year for the next few years as a means of boosting the population.

Whether the bears will be available is uncertain, since the agencies are looking for female bears, preferably ages 4-6, with no history of conflicts with people.

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at jmann@dailyinterlake.com