Transplanted female grizzly may have been killed by train

The Daily Inter Lake

Two dead grizzly bears recently have been found by wildlife officials in Northwest Montana.

One is a young female bear that was relocated to the Cabinet Mountains as part of a population augmentation program.

The 3-year-old grizzly was found in the Clark Fork River west of Noxon, and was most likely hit by a train on tracks that skirt the river.

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Warden Sgt. Jon Obst and Wayne Kasworm, a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, recovered the carcass after Montana Rail Link reported that a train had possibly hit a bear the night of Oct. 20. A signal from a GPS collar on the bear helped them find the carcass.

The bear was X-rayed in Kalispell, determining that there was no evidence it had been shot.

The bear had been captured and moved July 24 from the Stillwater drainage near Trego to the Cabinet Mountains as part of a program aimed at boosting the region's imperiled grizzly bear population.

Several bears have been moved in the last couple of years from the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem to the Cabinet-Yaak grizzly bear recovery area.

State and federal wardens also are investigating the death of another grizzly bear that was found dead on Oct. 24 in the Fishtrap drainage of the Thompson River, about 18 miles north of Thompson Falls. The bear's carcass was significantly decomposed.

Those with any information related to the bear's death are urged to contact Warden Captain Lee Anderson at 751-4561 or the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Missoula at 329-3000 or by dialing 1-800-TIP-MONT.

Callers may be eligible for a reward.