Creston grizzlies captured

A family of grizzly bears recently captured along the Flathead River west of Columbia Falls Stage Road were moved back to the Flathead Indian Reservation.

The 6-year-old female and her two cubs of the year were trapped Aug. 22. They were returned the next day to the reservation and released in a remote area of the South Fork Jocko River drainage.

The bears had been captured earlier this year by Confederated Salish and Kootenai tribal biologists and moved to the east side of Hungry Horse Reservoir. Within several weeks, they had swum across the reservoir and crossed over the Swan Mountains into the Flathead Valley.

For the past month, the bears traveled along the east side of the Flathead Valley in the Lake Blaine, Many Lakes and LaBrant Road areas. They were also seen in the Creston area where they got into a garden and ate corn and carrots. The bears didn’t cause major conflicts but were seen walking through back yards on several occasions.

A decision was made to capture them and move them out of the Flathead Valley.

Traps were set in the LaBrant Road and Creston area, but eventually the bears made their way to the Flathead River north of Montana 35.

The adult female was captured with a leg snare, drugged and placed in front of an oversize “family” culvert trap. The cubs were captured about two hours later after they walked into the back of the trap to be near their mother.

It was decided that the bears should be returned to the reservation, an area with which they were familiar. The female is still wearing a GPS radio collar.