Waffle-loving grizzly bear killed

A food-conditioned female grizzly bear captured last week north of Loon Lake was killed by state wildlife officials after becoming conditioned to eating livestock and a variety of human food, including waffles.

The 226-pound, seven-year-old grizzly sow was killed July 15 following unsuccessful attempts to relocate it in the last two years, according to a press release Tuesday from Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. The bear had been in the Ferndale area the previous two times it was captured.

Her two yearling cubs, a 104-pound female and 123-pound male, also were captured and are being held at the Fish, Wildlife and Parks Wildlife Center in Helena while the wildlife agency searches for a zoo to keep the bears.

“Over the past two years, the grizzly bears were known to have killed chickens, ducks and rabbits,” agency spokesman John Fraley said in the press release.

The bear trio also had eaten bird seed, cat food, chicken and rabbit feed and horse grain, as well as waffles left out for deer.

“After that, the bears began climbing up on porches and looking into windows,” the release added. “They also opened shed doors to gain access to livestock feed and deer that had been harvested.”

Like all bears, grizzlies are opportunistic omnivores and consume a wide variety of foods as part of their natural diet.

People in Western Montana — particularly in bear country — are frequently reminded to secure garbage, pet and livestock food and other attractants that could cause bears to associate human development with food.