FWP secures new home for orphaned grizzly cubs

A pair of local bear cubs are headed to a Pennsylvania wildlife sanctuary after officials with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks euthanized their mother following repeated attempts to break into human food sources and increasingly dangerous behavior near populated areas.

Euthanasia is often a tool of last resort for state wildlife experts. They had hoped that capturing and transporting the mother bear to more remote areas would break her routine, but she continued to wander into towns and properties around Glacier National Park, foraging for food.

The animal managed to elude capture prior to going into hibernation this past winter. When she emerged in the spring, she came with two cubs in tow.

In July, officials captured the family of three near Lupfer Meadows north of Whitefish. With a record of raiding human sources of food — sheds, garbage cans and chicken coops — in Columbia Falls and Olney, officials deemed the mother bear severely food condition in consultation with experts from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service, putting euthanasia squarely on the table.

According to Dillon Tabish, FWP Regional Communication and Management director, the agency must work closely with Fish and Wildlife Services when weighing whether to euthanize a wild animal, particularly an animal as highly protected as one of Montana’s grizzlies.

“Grizzlies are currently listed as a threatened species and so they’re certainly protected animals,” Tabish said. “When you're dealing with a protected animal you’ve really got to make sure you're doing the right thing and going through all the steps, that’s why the help from the Fish and Wildlife Service is so valued, because this is a very sensitive situation.”

Tabish said that euthanizing the mother bear presented new challenges.

“The cubs we found with the mother are what we call ‘cubs of the year,’ which means that they were born in the same year we adopted them,” Tabish said. “So they're still too young to know how to survive on their own and when that happens we basically know we have to send them to a shelter.”

Tabish says that the process of looking for a new home is uniquely difficult for bear cubs due to their long lifespans and the amount of space they need to live comfortably.

“The average grizzly bear can live up to thirty years in captivity,” Tabish said. “So when you agree to adopt a grizzly cub you're essentially agreeing to several decades of caring for one animal. When you have two bear cubs, that responsibility doubles.”

That responsibility, according to Tabish, means that FWP maintains high standards when searching for a home for the cubs, who were temporarily kept in a wildlife sanctuary in Helena while officials searched for more permanent accommodations.

“The stakes were high, too,” Tabish said. “Because if we can’t find a facility to house the animals and run out of time, that usually means we euthanize them as well.”

Luckily, though, after casting a wide net all throughout the United States, the FWP found lodgings in the Rivendale Wildlife Sanctuary in Pennsylvania. State officials said the Zoological Association of America has accredited the facility, which recently built bear enclosures.

“While we’re grateful that the Rivendale Wildlife Sanctuary had the appropriate space and accepted these two cubs for permanent placement, we’d much rather see them in the wild avoiding conflict with humans,” said Lee Anderson, FWP Region 1 supervisor, in a statement.

Tabish echoed that sentiment.

“We can’t stress this enough: Finding homes for cubs is always a good outcome,” Tabish said. “But the best outcome would have been if the mother lived and the family was allowed to stay in the wild.”

Tabish says that if there’s a message Montana's should take away from this story, it’s one they’ve probably heard for years now.

“Montana is bear country, everybody should know this,” Tabish said. “We all need to be doing our part to make sure we are not attracting wildlife or disrupting their natural habitat. Keeping trash and food indoors, use bear-resistant containers, if you have a domestic fruit tree that attracts animals, maybe consider removing it.”

Tabish pauses to summarize all of this succinctly.

“Keep bears wild and keep people safe. It’s a win win.”