Young nuisance bears aren’t especially likely to re-offend after relocation . . .
Yearling grizzly bears busted for getting into trouble and relocated are not any more likely to offend again than bears with a clean rap sheet.
“If a bear gets in trouble, it doesn’t mean it’s a chronic offender,” said Mark Haroldson, who conducted a study for the U.S. Geological Survey in Bozeman.
Although the research is still preliminary, Haroldson said the data came partly from information collected in the late 1970s and 1980s as bear managers sought to reverse the decline in grizzly bear populations in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem by separating young bears from conflict mothers. The thought was that the mothers might be teaching the yearlings bad behavior.