U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service staff saw a grizzly bear on Thursday morning at the Benton Lake National Wildlife Refuge, about 10 miles north of Great Falls.
According to a press release from Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks, they initially thought the bear was the sibling of the bear that died earlier this week of insecticide poisoning northwest of Carter (details).
However, the bear seen at Benton Lake NWR is noticeably larger than the sibling bear (300 pounds vs. 130 pounds), and FWP biologists have determined it is a different bear.
FWP says that expansion and movement of grizzly bears beyond the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem, which covers much of northwestern Montana, including the Rocky Mountain Front, is becoming more common and sightings are becoming more frequent.
Bear-management experts from Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem and the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee, including USFWS, FWP, several tribes, U.S. Forest Service, and other agencies will be meeting next week in Polson to discuss bear management and the delisting process for the NCDE.
RELATED:
- Grizzly bear wildlife technician continuing to recover from bear attack
- Grizzly bears make their presence known along the Front (video)
- Grizzly bear awareness discussed in Loma
- Montana man survives attack by grizzly bear
- Viewer photos: grizzly bears near Choteau
- Grizzly bears heading east from the Rocky Mountain Front
For more information on what to do during a grizzly bear encounter, visit
- http://www.cfc.umt.edu/grizzlybearrecovery/grizzly-bears/default.php
- http://fieldguide.mt.gov/speciesDetail.aspx?elcode=AMAJB01020.
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