Grizzly Bear Population In Montana Recovering, Increasing Risk Of Human Interactions

According to officials at the Glacier National Park in northwestern Montana, the grizzly bear population in the area has increased substantially in the past years, but the rate of grizzly killings and of the bears wrecking havoc in the area has also increased.

Grizzly bears are federally protected since 1975. In 2017, President Donald Trump took the Greater Yellowstone grizzly off the Endangered Species List claiming the species has recovered.

The first grizzly hunt in over 40 years was scheduled to begin in Idaho and Wyoming on Sept. 1. But, the plan was halted as a federal judge in Missoula put a temporary two-week hold on the hunt as he was considering a number of lawsuits that challenged the president’s decision to take away federal protection for the Yellowstone grizzlies. The decision in the case could influence Montana officials in the ruling on whether Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem grizzly should be de-listed from the endangered list or not. The latter decision is expected by the end of the year.

The Glacier National Park comes under the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem. The grizzly population in the area is growing by about 2.3 percent a year, reported NPR. Estimates by specialists state that there are more than 1,000 bears in the region, inhabiting the 8-million-acre land that encompasses the park and numerous other national forests. According to reports, the area has the largest grizzly population in the U.S.

But this increase in the number of bears also means there is an increased risk of interaction with human beings, especially since the human population in the area has increased substantially as well. NPR reports that Glacier saw the highest number of tourist visits in the last four years. Though the tourism industry is prospering, it means an increased risk of human-bear interaction.

According to the report, about 23 grizzly bears were killed or relocated each year around Glacier. This year, the number already touched 30. With the rise in bear population, officials are also expecting an increase in mortality, especially during the fall when bears might venture closer to human settlements as they load up on calories for the winter.

"It's really not that unexpected," Hilary Cooley, the grizzly bear recovery coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said. "Because our distribution is expanding, the number of bears is growing. We would expect mortalities to grow in proportion to that too."

The population of grizzly bears around Glacier National Park is healthy and strong, Cooley said adding that the park contains a larger number of bears than the Yellowstone area. She expects the federal protections on the grizzly bears to be removed by the end of the year, which means the state will be able to manage the bear population. According to Cooley, state officials are the people who are best suited to manage human-bear conflicts.

"More and more farmers and producers are experiencing bears that they haven't been for many years," Cooley said.

"If you look at the science of it, the bears are at the point of recovery particularly the Yellowstone Ecosystem and they need to be managed" Gregg Losinski, a human/bear conflict expert, said. "But there's lots of folks out there that have an emotional tie to bears and so that's the problem we're getting into is emotion versus science. And science says it's time to move on, emotion says no let's not do that."