Satellite tracks roaming grizzly

The Daily Inter Lake

The grizzly bear captured this week on the shores of Whitefish Lake was the same bear caught just weeks ago near Bitterroot Lake west of Kalispell.

The unusual location for the first capture - between the state's two major grizzly bear recovery areas - had prompted a decision to fit the young bear with a global positioning satellite collar.

Tim Manley, the state's regional grizzly management specialist, was uncertain if the bear had come from the Northern Continental Divide or the Cabinet-Yaak recovery areas.

When the 3-year-old, 200-pound male was recaptured Tuesday on Whitefish Lake, data was downloaded from the satellite collar to determine its movements at five-hour intervals since it was released west of Bitterroot Lake near Meadow Peak.

It turns out the bear moved east to the Lost Trail National Wildlife Management Area, then northeast to the Star Meadows area, then to Round Meadows and Lower Stillwater Lake, and then farther northeast into the Whitefish Divide.

The bear visited the Coal and Big Creek drainages before moving off the Whitefish Range to Whitefish Lake, where he reportedly was eating apples.

After this week's capture, the bear was refitted with a radio collar and relocated to the northern end of the Whitefish Range.

Black bears and grizzly bears are moving around more at this time of year, feasting on all available foods to prepare for hibernation. Manley urges orchard owners to pick up cast fruit, and for residents to secure bird feeders, garbage and other attractants that could lure in bears.