Illegal kills No. 1 cause of griz deaths

This was a tough year to be a grizzly bear in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem. The region saw 25 known grizzly bear deaths by humans, and the No. 1 cause of death was illegal kills.

All told, nine grizzly bears were killed illegally in 2013. Bear managers killed eight problem bears, two were killed by cars, two were killed by trains, one was killed in self defense, and the cause of death for two is unknown.

One bear was moved to the Cabinet Mountains as part of an augmentation program designed to boost bear numbers there. Because it was removed from the NCDE, it’s listed as a mortality, said Chris Servheen, grizzly bear recovery coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The number of deaths are above last year’s count of 18. There were 30 deaths in 2011 and 20 in 2009 and 2010. About half of this year’s deaths were females — 13.

Servheen said the grizzly bear population in the region continues to grow at about 3 percent per year.

The NCDE, which extends from the Canada border along the Continental Divide south to the Blackfoot River valley, encompasses 8 million acres. It has an estimated population of 1,000 grizzlies.

Grizzly bear populations in places like Glacier National Park, where the bears are wholly protected, are at or near capacity, Servheen said.

Glacier Park sees very few human-caused mortalities. The last bears killed in the Park were a sow and two cubs that were removed a few years ago because they were habituated to humans and would often come right up to campers.

Meanwhile, the USFWS continues to work on its grizzly bear conservation strategy for the NCDE — a document that will guide management of bears in the region after they are removed from protection under the Endangered Species Act.

That document should be finalized next year, with the first steps to delisting possibly coming at the end of the year.