Grizzly monitoring begins in Glacier

Glacier National Park asks visitors to be “bear aware” in the Park. A long-term interagency program to monitor grizzly bear population trends in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem will continue at the Park this year.

Beginning this week, state and federal wildlife biologists deployed bait stations, automated cameras and traps to capture and monitor grizzly bears within the park. Bait stations and trap sites are marked with brightly colored warning and closure signs. Visitors are asked to respect posted signs and not enter sites where there are grizzly bear traps or bait stations.

Park wildlife biologists attempt to maintain a sample of up to 10 radio-collared female grizzly bears out of an estimated population of 300 grizzly bears living in the Park.

Trapping efforts will continue through October at various locations throughout the Park.

The interagency grizzly bear monitoring program began in 2004 and is led by Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks. Participating agencies include: National Park Service, United States Forest Service, Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and the Blackfeet Nation.

Monitoring program reports can be accessed at: http://fwp.mt.gov/fishAndWildlife/management/grizzlyBear/monitoring.html.