Date: August 30, 2006
Contact: Nash, (307) 344-2010
Contact: Vallie, (307) 344-2012
A two-year-old female grizzly weighing approximately 130 pounds, has been captured and relocated to a remote backcountry area of the park. The bear had been frequenting a developed area near Yellowstone Lake in Yellowstone National Park since this spring.
The grizzly had returned to Lake Village numerous times and had been hazed away from the area on 20 occasions. In the past week, the bear began chewing garden hoses and hoses used for sewage hookups on employee trailer houses.
Because hazing efforts were no longer effective, the decision was made to relocate the bear.
The bear was captured on Tuesday afternoon, after it had damaged yet another hose in the same employee trailer court.
On Wednesday, two ear tags and a radio collar were placed on the bear and it was relocated by boat to a remote area on the south arm of Yellowstone Lake.
The Yellowstone National Park bear management policy strives to ensure a natural and free-ranging population of black and grizzly bears. Although there was no evidence that the bear had been obtaining human food, the bear was tolerant of people. Relocation was the best course of action in this case to prevent a possible human encounter and avert the potential of acquiring human food, both of which can ultimately lead to aggression and to the destruction of the bear.
