A rash of grizzly bear incidents in Northwest Montana has led to one of the busiest years ever involving captures and relocations, according to Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

FWP has made 43 grizzly bear captures in Region 1 because of problem incidents this year, one of the highest numbers ever, according to FWP.

“This valley is a real grizzly hot spot,” FWP spokesperson John Fraley said.

Six grizzlies have had to be euthanized in recent months and one has been transferred to the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center in West Yellowstone following problems, Fraley said.

Fraley attributes the increase in numbers to the fact that the grizzly population has recovered in the Northern Rockies in recent years, with an estimated 1,000 bears living in the region.

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There are some great quotes here from a collection of highly irritated wildlife managers.

From today’s Missoulian . . .

More grizzly bears are keying in on unprotected chicken coops in western Montana, with increasingly deadly consequences – both for the bears and the pilfered poultry.

The rise in bear-related chicken raids is ruffling the feathers of state and federal wildlife managers who are forced to move or kill bears that receive a food reward, be it from a trash can, a fruit orchard or a bird pen. The conflicts are entirely avoidable, managers say, but it’s the responsibility of landowners to buck the disturbing trend…

“I sometimes get calls daily on chickens, whereas I used to never hear about it,” said Jamie Jonkel, FWP’s bear management specialist in Missoula. “Chickens are the new garbage. There are so many chickens on the landscape that it’s like having garbage cans with wings just tempting the bears.”

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There have been a half-dozen encounters between grizzly bears and humans reported in Montana this month alone, a number experts attribute to a growing bear population stuck in the low country because of the deep snowpack.

Most of those encounters didn’t turn out well for the bears. Four times, the grizzlies were shot and killed.

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The deaths of two grizzly bears in Glacier National Park last week has caused a stir in western Montana as bear biologists evaluate the park’s decision to remove a mother and two of her cubs.

Biologist Charles Jonkel of the Great Bear Foundation in Missoula disagreed with the killings and reported numerous phone calls from concerned residents.

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It’s been a fairly good year for grizzly bears in the greater Glacier Park area. This year 11 bears were killed due to human circumstances, according to figures provided by Chris Servheen, the grizzly bear recovery coordinator for the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem.

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