Black bear killed in motorcycle crash

A sow black bear is dead and a motorcyclist from Delaware was injured after the two collided on U.S. 2 near Essex last week.

According to the Montana Highway Patrol, Jessi Kelly, 26, of Wilmington, was traveling about 60 mph just before 6:30 p.m. on Aug. 9 when the bear walked onto the highway in front of his Yamaha motorcycle. A car parked alongside the highway blocked the view of the bear, which contributed to the crash, MHP reported.

Kelly was thrown from the bike and suffered several injuries, including broken ribs and a partially collapsed lung as well as lacerations and road rash. A female passenger also suffered several bumps and bruises. Both were wearing their helmets.

Kelly was taken to the hospital for treatment, but the bear suffered a broken back and had to be euthanized. The sow also had a first-year cub, which climbed a tree and was later caught by Fish, Wildlife and Parks bear specialist Eric Wenum.

Wenum said the orphan bear would be transported to a rehabilitation facility in Helena that raises cubs to an age where they can fend for themselves. The cubs are then put back into the wild in artificial dens during winter. When they wake up, they're on their own.

The sow and cub originated from the east side of Glacier National Park, Wenum said. The bears had become too habituated to humans and were transported to the South Fork of the Flathead on the east side of the Hungry Horse Reservoir.

The sow then traveled to Essex, where Wenum had just set a trap for her one day earlier. He said the bear wasn't getting into garbage but was eating huckleberries in residents' yards and showed little fear of humans.

Wenum said this summer started out like it was going to be busy with problem bears. With a large snowpack and colder temperatures, green-up was late and bears were down low where they got into trouble.

But the summer berry crop has now come on and is better than expected. Low elevation huckleberries and serviceberries are ripe and lush. Higher elevation huckleberries, despite lingering snows, seem to be doing well, too, he said. The mountain ash berry crop is a bit late, but it still has time to ripen.

Berries are the main food source for bears in the region. In bad berry years, bear managers are kept busy responding to complaints of bears in residential neighborhoods.