Grizzly relocated to grow numbers in northwest Montana

KALISPELL, Mont. – A young bruin has been relocated to northwest Montana to boost the sparse population of grizzly bears in the Cabinet-Yaak Mountains.

The Flathead Beacon reports it’s the 20th bear to join the region near the Montana-Idaho border under an augmentation program that began in 1990.

It had been two years since another bear was added to the ecosystem.

The latest bear did not have any prior conflicts with humans.

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks officials along with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service captured the bear in a remote area in the Stillwater National Forest. The young, male bear was introduced to his new home July 21.

The augmentation program began in response to a diminishing grizzly population.

Biologists say there were fewer than 15 grizzlies in the Cabinet-Yaak in 1988.

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This version has been corrected to show the bear was captured in the Stillwater National Forest.

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Information from: Flathead Beacon, http://www.flatheadbeacon.com