Another grizzly has been captured and relocated within Park County in the ongoing effort to ensure humans and bears can comfortably coexist without conflict.
On June 21, a sub-adult male grizzly was captured in Park County within Shoshone National Forest. Apparently, the bear had been a frequent visitor of a guest ranch located in the forest along the North Fork.
Wyoming Game and Fish collaborated with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to capture and relocate a grizzly bear. The selection of a relocation site is determined by considering the age, sex, and type of conflict the bear was involved in and potential human activity in the vicinity of the relocation site.
Once captured, the grizzly was relocated to the Fox Creek drainage – also in Park County. This drainage is approximately 49 miles northwest of Cody.
This is the third grizzly relocation of 2021 – and all three bears were captured in Park County and relocated in Park County.
In early April, an adult male grizzly was captured near Meeteetse and relocated to the Sunlight Creek drainage, 28 miles northwest of Cody. Later that month, another grizzly was captured west of Meeteetse was relocated to the Jojo Drainage south of town.
Grizzly bear relocation is one management tool that large carnivore biologists use to minimize conflicts between humans and grizzly bears. It is critical to managing the population.
When other options are exhausted or unattainable, Game and Fish will attempt to capture the bear. All circumstances are considered when determining if a captured individual should be relocated or removed from the population.
Bears that are considered a threat to human safety are NOT relocated.
Consultation with the appropriate personnel and agencies occurs to minimize the chance of future conflicts and maximize the survival potential of the relocated grizzly bear. Bears that are deemed an immediate threat to human safety are not released back into the wild.
Bears are relocated following state and federal law and regulation. Game and Fish stresses the importance of the public’s responsibility in bear management and the importance of keeping all attractants (food items, garbage, horse feed, birdseed, and others) unavailable to bears.
Reducing attractants available to bears reduce human-bear conflicts. For more information on grizzly bear management and reducing the potential for conflicts, please visit the Bear Wise Wyoming page.
For further information, please contact the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Grizzly Bear Recovery Coordinator, Hilary Cooley, at (406) 243-4903.
