Vehicle struck, killed black bear sow in Glacier in August

The same day a car drove off the edge of the Going-to-the-Sun Road this summer another vehicle struck and killed a black bear on the popular roadway, Glacier National Park officials confirmed last week.

Glacier National Park spokesperson Gina Icenoggle said a black bear was killed on the Sun Road near the west tunnel on Aug. 3. No public announcement was made at the time because the death did not meet the park’s criteria for a press release, according to Icenoggle.

The two incidents, though occuring on the same day, were otherwise unrelated, Icenoggle said.

Icenoggle said park staff believe the bear died instantly. It was a female black bear with one confirmed cub, which park personnel trapped in order to get it away from the road. There may have been a second cub, she said.

She said based on information about a second cub, the lateness of the year and a good berry crop, park staff consulted with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks personnel and determined that releasing the cub back into the area where the sow was hit was the best course of action.

Icenoggle said rangers have monitored the cub since its release and have reported seeing it in recent weeks.

Although it doesn’t happen often, there are vehicle-related wildlife fatalities in the park year-round and park officials can’t issue a press release for each death, Icenoggle said, citing the workload.

“We determine press releases on extenuating circumstances and newsworthiness. Was the animal killed instantly or did it need to be euthanized; is it on the [U.S. Fish and Wildlife] threatened or endangered list; was there anything suspicious about the death?” Icenoggle wrote in an email.

She said that in this situation, although sad, a black bear is a fairly common, unlisted species and the death did not meet any of the criteria.

Reporter Taylor Inman can be reached at 406-758-4433 or by emailing tinman@dailyinterlake.com.