600-pound grizzly bear killed by vehicle

A large grizzly bear was killed recently after being struck by a vehicle on U.S. 93 north of St. Ignatius.

The male bear was struck at mile marker 35 at about 10:30 p.m. on May 5. The bruin weighed an estimated 550 to 600 pounds.

Dale Becker, manager of the Confederated Salish-Kootenai Wildlife Management program, said the bear may been the same one that had used a wildlife crossing on the highway in the same area over the past two years.

It was the first known grizzly bear mortality on the Flathead Indian Reservation this year. Other grizzly bears have been killed by motor-vehicle collisions on the reservation in 1998, 2001, 2002, 2010 and 2011.

Drivers who accidentally strike grizzly bears are asked to report the incidents to Stacy Courville in the Tribal Wildlife Management Program at 883-2888.