Date: May 31, 2006
Contact: Melissa Wilson, 406 888-7895

WEST GLACIER, MONT. – Officials at Glacier National Park report that a male grizzly bear which had been caught on Sunday, May 28, in a park snare was found dead on Monday, May 29. The male grizzly appeared to be recovering from anesthesia and was observed beginning to raise its head and starting to stand. Given what was thought to be a normal recovery, park and state researchers left the area. On Monday, the bear was found dead a few feet from the snare.

The capture effort in the park was part of a cooperative interagency population trend monitoring program covering the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem (NCDE). Pending the outcome of an internal review, all capture operations have been suspended in the park and all snares have been removed.

The male grizzly was estimated to be 17 years old and weighed approximately 375 pounds. The carcass has been sent to a Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks facility in Bozeman, Montana for necropsy. Further, the drugs used to anesthetize the grizzly have also been sent for analysis.