Another Grizzly Bear Moved Out of Meeteetse to Protect Cows

An adult male grizzly was captured and relocated out of the Meeteetse area this week in a continued attempt to avoid incidents between bears and cows.

Wyoming Game and Fish captured the grizzly on April 26 in an area west of Meeteetse. This bear wasn’t involved in any incidents. The capture occurred while the department was “attempting to mitigate cattle depredation.”

Since the bear has posed no danger to livestock or people, it was relocated. The bear was transported and released in the Jojo Drainage, 23 miles southwest of Meeteetse.

Wyoming Game and Fish collaborated with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to choose a suitable relocation area.

This is the second grizzly relocation of 2021 and the second time this year, a male grizzly has been captured in Meeteetse.

Another male grizzly was captured west of Meeteetse and moved to the Sunlight Creek Basin earlier in April 2021. Both incidents involved efforts to prevent cattle depredation.

Park County continues to be a popular spot for grizzly relocation. Several grizzlies were captured and relocated within the county in 2020.

Grizzly bear relocation is one management tool that large carnivore biologists use to minimize conflicts between humans and grizzly bears. It is critical to managing the population.

When other options are exhausted or unattainable, Game and Fish will attempt to capture the bear. All circumstances are considered when determining if a captured individual should be relocated or removed from the population.

The selection of a relocation site is determined by considering the age, sex, and type of conflict the bear was involved in and potential human activity in the vicinity of the relocation site.

Bears that are considered a threat to human safety are NOT relocated.

Consultation with the appropriate personnel and agencies occurs to minimize the chance of future conflicts and maximize the survival potential of the relocated grizzly bear. Bears that are deemed an immediate threat to human safety are not released back into the wild.

Bears are relocated following state and federal law and regulation. Game and Fish stresses the importance of the public’s responsibility in bear management and the importance of keeping all attractants (food items, garbage, horse feed, birdseed, and others) unavailable to bears.

Reducing attractants available to bears reduce human-bear conflicts. For more information on grizzly bear management and reducing the potential for conflicts, please visit the Bear Wise Wyoming page.

For further information, please contact the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Grizzly Bear Recovery Coordinator, Hilary Cooley, at (406) 243-4903.