8 Grizzlies Killed Locally in Last Few Days

Although it’s not a record year for human-grizzly conflicts, 2018 is certainly turning into an autumn to remember for hunters and residents in Park County.
Eight grizzlies have been killed locally in the last week and a half due to negative interactions with humans, according to Game and Fish Wildlife Supervisor for the Cody Office, Dan Smith. Two of those were following encounters with hunters, but the other six were incidents in which Game and Fish determined that the bears must be removed from the population for the safety of everyone. Smith says three of those removed were frequenting the Gallagher Corn Maze in the Clark area, and the other three had become habituated to food rewards in residential areas on the North Fork.

However, despite the visibility of the recent incidents, Smith says that this is not a record setting year for grizzly encounters. He says the number of conflicts ebbs and flows, depending on the year.

Smith pointed out that despite the ruling from a federal judge last week that put grizzly bears back on the endangered species list, the Game and Fish Department considers the bears’ behavior as indicative of a fully restored population.