Bears - Relocating

Officials seek home for wayward bears
YNP will not be first choice for relocating bears, officials say.
By Rachel Odell, Jackson Hole News 3-08-00

State and federal officials are looking for areas outside of Yellowstone National Park to put "problem" grizzly bears that kill livestock and harass humans this summer. The national park is already saturated with bears and officials need to use other areas within the greater Yellowstone ecosystem, said Chris Servheen of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, head of grizzly bear recovery here.

Ecosystem management

"We need to consider relocation on an ecosystem basis," Servheen said. "Yellowstone is one third of the ecosystem. It is out of sight and out of mind, and we are making sure we think of the ecosystem as an ecosystem rather than saying it is easier to take the bears into Yellowstone National Park."
Running out of options

Reg Rothwell of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department said the agencies have run out of obvious options for relocating bears. He said they need to brainstorm on relocation areas before summer when grizzlies are more likely to encounter livestock and humans.

"The bucket is full in the core area and it is beginning to limit our options as to where we put bears that are repeat offenders," Rothwell said. "It is a matter of us running out of options and we have reached a point where all the agencies responsible for grizzly recovery are sitting down looking at where we can put bears."

Yellowstone saturated

Yellowstone is saturated with bears, said park biologist Kerry Gunther. Bears that are placed in the park will probably leave in search of their home territory, he said. "All the indications are that Yellowstone is full," Gunther said. "You have a full glass and you want to pour more water in it and something is going to spill out. But we mostly move bears to buy time so we can clean up the situation where the bears got into trouble in the first place."

Bears, humans want same habitat

The Yellowstone ecosystem includes two national parks and six national forests, all with good grizzly habitat, Gunther said. But conflicts exist in those areas; mainly they are used for grazing livestock or are heavily used by people, Gunther said. "We found that throughout most of the forest lands where there are roads there are cattle and sheep," Gunther said. "Where there are no roads, you have to transport a bear by helicopter."

That costs about $2,000 to $4,000, and most of the roadless areas in the ecosystem are wilderness areas where helicopters and other motorized vehicles are not allowed, Rothwell said.

That leaves officials in a bind about where to put bears this summer. Gunther said he anticipates reviewing each problem bear situation on a case-by-case basis this summer. He added that Yellowstone will continue to accept some wayward bears.

"Shelter" stats

Yellowstone officials accepted one bear each in 1996, 1997 and 1998. Last year officials accepted four problem bears, Gunther said. Rothwell said officials will probably discuss the issue at a mid-April meeting of the Yellowstone ecosystem subcommittee on grizzly bear recovery in Bozeman.

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