Grizzly Shootings Prompt Investigation

Grizzly Shootings Prompt Investigation

WASHINGTON, DC, October 7, 2002 (ENS) - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) law enforcement agents are investigating the illegal killing of a sow grizzly bear and her yearling female cub.

The two bears were found dead last week by a bowhunter in the Rock Creek drainage on Sawtelle Peak near Henry's Lake. A preliminary examination indicates that the animals had been shot with a firearm.

Unlike other recent incidents involving human bear encounters, the bears did not appear to have been killed in self defense. Both bears will be sent to the USFWS National Forensics Laboratory in Ashland, Oregon for forensic analysis.

The grizzly bear is listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.USFWS special agent Scott Bragonier noted that, "The killing of a threatened or endangered species is a crime punishable by law. A person convicted of this crime may be imprisoned for up to one year and be fined as high as $100,000 for each offense."

Chuck Schwartz, leader of the USGS Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team, said the seven year old female bear, F364, was a valuable research animal. Her activity has been tracked since she was collared in the fall of 1999.

Collar monitoring these past few years has indicated that the 300 pound female traveled between Yellowstone National Park and the Sawtelle Peak area in Idaho. The sow had given birth to two cubs in the spring of 2001, but lost one of the cubs that same summer.

The yearling cub found dead near her mother was the sow's first successful attempt at raising offspring. The sow and her cub had never been involved in human encounters.

"The loss of these two bears is a definite setback for Idaho's grizzly bear recovery. Not only was this bear valuable because she had reached reproductive maturity, but she was passing knowledge to her female offspring," said Schwartz. "Few reproductive females have been found in the last two decades in the Idaho portion of the Yellowstone Recovery Zone."

Bragonier is asking for the public's help with the case.

"The person or persons responsible for this egregious act must be held accountable," he said. "We encourage anyone who may have information about the illegal bear killings, or anyone who may have observed suspicious behavior in the area of the crime or may have overheard conversations regarding the incident, to please contact our law enforcement division immediately, or call the Citizens Against Poaching hotline at 1-800-632-5999."


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In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving informational materials for research and educational purposes. This document is a COPY for non-commercial, not for profit and personal use only. This document is also reposted in order to get the word out farther about this tragic incident which took these bears lives.