Chalk up another location where grizzly bears are turning up for the first time in decades. Only a few months after wildlife officials confirmed a grizzly sighting in Cody, Wyoming, now they captured three grizzlies south of Byron.
“This is certainly first time in recent history we’ve captured a bear in Big Horn,” Dan Smith, Wyoming Game and Fish (WGFD) regional supervisor, told the Cody Enterprise. “We’ve had a busy year here in the Cody region with bear encounters. As grizzly populations continue to expand in distribution, bear sightings are occurring more and more in areas we would not normally expect to see them and in areas that are not considered suitable for bears.
The sow and two cubs first appeared on a trail camera. WGFD officials then saw them feeding on a dead cow southwest of Byron.
“Most of these areas are more susceptible to conflicts between humans and bears,” Smith told the Cody Enterprise.
The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation maintains that the Yellowstone Area grizzly population is recovered and state agencies should manage grizzly populations as they manage elk, wolves, deer and other wildlife.
(Photo source: National Park Service)