Transplanted grizzlies hightail it back home

Two grizzly bears relocated to the Cabinet Mountains recently showed off uncanny homing powers, wandering in a matter of days back to the Whitefish Range where they originally had been captured.

“It was definitely a surprise,” said Wayne Kasworm, a biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service who has supervised a program aimed at augmenting the Cabinet-Yaak grizzly bear population.

“This isn’t something we are hoping for with the augmentation program, but at the same time it’s an interesting look at how animals can find their way back home.”

The first bear to move was a 4-year-old female captured in the Whitefish Range and moved to the Silverbutte Creek area on July 25.

The bear, which was fitted with a GPS monitoring collar, was located on Aug. 5 back in the Whitefish Mountains very close to her original capture location.

While she was being located, the signal was detected for another bear that was moved from the Whitefish Range to the Cabinets in September 2009.

That bear spent the winter denned up in the West Cabinets, emerged in April and moved to the main Cabinet Mountains, when her signal was lost. She was found about five miles northeast of the Big Mountain.

Kasworm said the first bear covered about 73 miles in seven days, and the second bear moved 60 miles in six days, based on information downloaded from their collars.

“To me, what was the amazing thing about both of these bears is that by the time they crossed Highway 2, they were on a direct course back to the Whitefish Range,” Kasworm said. “They were relatively straight and direct movements.”

Kasworm said he doubts habitat deficiencies in the Cabinets had anything to do with the bears moving.

The first bear “wasn’t there long enough to get enough of a feeling for the habitat. That bear was probably headed back after a day or two of the release,” he said.

The other bear was moved at the age of 10. “I don’t know how much of a role age might have played. Older bears may have more of an attachment.”

Since 2005, seven grizzly bears have been moved from the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem to the Cabinet Mountains. Two were killed, two moved back and the others are believed to still be alive.

Kasworm said there will be no attempts to recapture either of the bears that moved back to the Whitefish Range.

However, there may be an effort later this year to capture a bear farther east, closer to the Continental Divide, and move it to the Cabinet Mountains. And there will be a greater emphasis on looking for younger bears, with the idea that may be more adaptable to a new areas and less likely to leave.

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