Allegations of bear baiting investigated
Written by Gib Mathers Thursday, August 05, 2010
Montana officials are investigating claims that a photographer may have baited wildlife in the vicinity of the grizzly bear attack that killed a camper near Cooke City, Mont., last week.
“I can confirm there has been an allegation of bear baiting,” said Andrea Jones, information officer for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, Wednesday. “We don’t know how solid it is at this point.”
On Wednesday, July 28, a Michigan man was killed, and two other people were injured by a grizzly in Soda Butte campground, just east of Cooke City.
The sow grizzly responsible for the death and injuries was euthanized, and her three yearling cubs transferred to ZooMontana in Billings last week.
KTVQ in Billings said the station received a tip last week of wildlife baiting near the Northeast Entrance to Yellowstone National Park, according to the news station’s website.
The gate is roughly five miles west of Cooke City.
Jones said Wildlife and Parks officials do not know how solid the evidence is. The allegations are based strictly on a comment posted on a website that someone was baiting bears, she said.
The allegations are of wildlife baiting in the vicinity of Cooke City, but that area covers a lot of ground. And, even if a bear took bait, that is not proof it was the same bear that attacked humans, Jones said.
“Of course we take it seriously,” Jones said. “It’s just that no one is jumping to conclusions or looking for a silver bullet in terms of an answer.”
The Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks is taking the allegations seriously and investigating anything that might explain the bear’s abnormal behavior. However, nothing has been confirmed, she said.
Malnutrition, human-habituation from food rewards, disease or baiting may have been factors in the bear’s abnormal behavior. But Jones said investigators do not want to single out any of the above factors as the catalyst for the attacks.
Jones said she is awaiting results from the necropsy and is not confirming the sow was malnourished.
And, even though the animal was thin when it was captured, that is no reason for it to attack humans, Jones said.
Testing has confirmed that the sow was indeed the culprit.
“The good news is, the bears responsible have been found,” Jones said. Now, investigators can examine the evidence.
“We can move on to looking at all the pieces and dissecting this situation,” Jones said.
If an individual was found guilty of bear baiting — grizzly or black — it is considered a misdemeanor with a fine of $50 to $1,000, Jones said.
However, a Montana county attorney could increase those penalties if he or she believed it was warranted, Jones said.
