Male grizzly found dead in Glacier

Bear anesthetized by research team Sunday; found dead on Monday

The Daily Inter Lake

Efforts to trap grizzly bears for a population study have been suspended in Glacier National Park after a recently trapped bear was found dead.

A male grizzly bear, estimated to be 17 years old and weighing 375 pounds, was caught in a leg snare Sunday and anesthetized by a research team.

The bear "appeared to be recovering from anesthesia and was observed beginning to raise its head and starting to stand," according to a press release Wednesday from the park. "Given what was thought to be a normal recovery, park and state researchers left the area. On Monday, the bear was found dead a few feet from the snare."

The capture was part of a long-term study led by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks to monitor grizzly bear population trends. The effort is focused on monitoring radio collared female grizzly bears and their cubs. The study is expected to reveal birth and mortality trends in the grizzly bear population that inhabits the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem, an 8 million acre area straddling Glacier National Park and the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex.

"Pending the outcome of an internal review, all capture operations have been suspended in the park and all snares have been removed," the press release states.

The bear's carcass was sent to the a Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks laboratory in Bozeman for a necropsy. The drugs used to anesthetize the bear also were sent to the lab for analysis.