14 Bears Euthanized near Bozeman

[Big Sky Guy]

14 'extremely food conditioned' bears euthanized after capture in Bozeman

Fourteen black bears were removed from a Bozeman property and euthanized after they were found to have been food conditioned and habituated to humans, according to the Montana Department of

www.belgrade-news.com

Pretty sad deal. Hope the charges meet the crime. According to follow up article below fine of $50-$1k and up to 6-months in county detention center. Would think this would be 14 counts, but who knows?

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks speaks out on 14 bears euthanized near Bozeman: what penalties could follow

Montana FWP speaks out after 14 bears were euthanized near Bozeman and reveals what penalties could follow.

www.kbzk.com

 

[Gerald Martin]

Been ticked off about this since the story came out. There’s a very good chance that I have seen some of these bears over the past year or so. I had a jobsite on Bozeman Creek where bears came and went naturally and never caused any problems. The fact that they had to die because of this individual’s stupidity is disgusting.

 

[thomas89]

Obviously a pretty severe case here but I've heard that quite a few bears are shot in little mountain towns every year due to human interaction.

 

[Gerald Martin]

Obviously a pretty severe case here but I've heard that quite a few bears are shot in little mountain towns every year due to human interaction.

Bears getting put down because they habituate to garbage cans, fruit trees, etc is one thing. Folks intentionally feeding bears and then bears getting killed is another. These bears are close enough to the Gallatin Range that without an intentionally placed artificial food source they would follow the creeks up and down into Bozeman and back up into the mountains with no greater nuisance to humans than an occasional raid on a garbage can left overnight for pickup.

This time of year the bears are feeding heavily on snowberries and chokecherries along several creeks that come down into Bozeman. They ebb and flow with the food source and aren’t concentrated. Fourteen bears from the same property is not happening without the feeding.