Tribes seek missing mom of grizzly cubs

Conservation officers with the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes are seeking information on a missing sow grizzly bear in the Post Creek area.

Tribal bear biologist Stacy Courville said Tuesday that a pair of orphaned yearling grizzly cubs were found in the area. That was unusual enough to warrant an investigation.

“We’ve had a few females kick yearlings off, but not many. Usually they keep them for two years before they kick them off,” Courville said.

Tribal wildlife officials trapped the two cubs after they were spotted “bawling for their mother,” according to a press release from the tribes’ Natural Resources Department.

Courville said they were both caught on Labor Day and apparently been on their own for a few days before they were reported.

“I would say for this time of year she was in poor condition, and she also spent a lot of time laying down while the other one foraged,” he said of one the cubs. Courville said they had been transported to Montana Wildlife Center in Helena, where they are awaiting placement in a zoo.

The traps failed to lure in the cubs’ mother. Courville said he and other wildlife officials detected the smell of a rotting carcass in the area where the cubs were found, but were unable to find anything.

“I suspect it’s somewhere close by to where we trapped them, because those cubs had a pretty strong affinity for that area,” he added.

Courville said it’s been a while since the last known grizzly poaching case on the Flathead Indian Reservation. He responded last year to a report that a grizzly had been shot, but officials were unable to locate a carcass.

“The sooner we find the female, the easier it will be to determine what happened to her,” Courville said.

Anyone with information can contact Courville or chief conservation officer Pablo Espinoza at 406-675-2700 or call Tribal Dispatch at 406-675-4700. Callers can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a reward.