Grizzly found dead on Going-to-the-Sun Road

A member of Glacier National Park’s road crew discovered a dead grizzly bear along the Going-to-the-Sun Road on Thursday, May 22, at about 10 a.m.

The worker was traveling down the Sun Road when he came upon the bear about a mile above The Loop.

The National Park Service’s initial investigation indicated that the bear likely fell onto the road from a steep snowbank between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. that same morning because snowplow crews had traveled past the same area at about 9 a.m. and saw no bear.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was notified as required because grizzlies are listed as an endangered species. Park officials also informed Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks of the incident.

Park law enforcement rangers conducted an investigation, and wildlife biologists conducted a necropsy of the bear.

The bear was a 190-pound male, believed to be about five years old. He had no markings to signify any prior capture. The necropsy indicated death was the result of a fall and considered a natural death.

The bear had head injuries, broken ribs and other internal injuries consistent with a fall. There was no evidence of any struggle or fight prior to the fall, or any indication of a vehicle collision.

The terrain above the location where the bear was found includes a steep snowbank, some steep cliffs and a drop of about 12 feet.

An estimated 300 grizzly bears inhabit Glacier Park. Numerous state and federal agencies have worked together to manage and recover the grizzly bear population in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem.

The Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem encompasses about 9,600 square miles of northwestern Montana, and includes Glacier Park, parts of the Flathead and Blackfeet Indian reservations, parts of the Flathead, Helena, Kootenai, Lewis and Clark and Lolo national forests, Bureau of Land Management lands, and a significant amount of state and private lands.

Under the Endangered Species Act, grizzly bears were listed as a threatened species in 1975 in the lower 48 States.