Second griz moved

Another grizzly bear has been moved from the Whitefish Mountain Range to the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness area as part of a program aimed at bolstering the imperiled Cabinet-Yaak grizzly bear population.

The four-year-old, 230-pound female bear was captured near Red Meadow Creek, about 25 miles north of Whitefish, according to Wayne Kasworm, a Libby-based biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The bear was fitted with a GPS collar so her movements can be monitored, and she was released at the top of Silverbutte Creek near the south end of the Cabinet Mountain Range.

On July 18, a male bear was captured in the Coal Creek drainage on the north end of the Whitefish Range and moved to the West Cabinet Mountains.

That bear most recently was located about 10 miles north of his release site in Callahan Creek.

The most recent relocation completes this year’s efforts in the Cabinet-Yaak grizzly bear augmentation program.

Since the program was started in 2005, seven bears have been moved from the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem to the Cabinet Mountains. Two were killed last year and the others are presumed to be alive.