Albino bear moved to safety of Glacier

An albino black bear recently was captured near Olney and relocated to Glacier National Park.

Tim Manley, a grizzly bear management specialist for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, said he was contacted the week of Oct. 19 by Olney residents who had seen a pale-colored grizzly bear in the area.

He set a culvert trap and within a couple days, he had a bear.

"It turned out to be an albino black bear," said Manley, adding that it was a 4-year-old male weighing about 150 pounds.

Manley said some residents urged him to relocate the bear somewhere where it would not be such a vulnerable target during the five-week general hunting season, which is currently under way.

"They said it would be nice if you could put it somewhere where it could be secure," he said.

Manley discussed it with Jim Williams, the state's regional wildlife manager, and they contacted Glacier National Park biologist John Waller.

"We got the OK to release it in the park so we took it up and released it at Packers' Roost," an area near the Loop on Going-to-the-Sun Road, Manley said.

Manley said there were reports of an albino bear near Columbia Falls last year, and the recently relocated bear could be the same one.

"We've had some that have been harvested over the last 10 years or so, but it's pretty unusual," he said.

Albino bears typically do not survive very long because they often have vision problems, Manley said.

The bear released in the park "definitely seemed to be light sensitive," he noted.

Manley has been busy in recent weeks dealing with bears that have been getting too close to homes and humans.

"Things are kind of slowing down now," he said. "We're in a time of year when most black bears are denning up, and most of the grizzly bears will be denning in the middle of November."

But Manley noted that there are always a few stragglers that don't den up until mid-December.