Elk NetworkGrizzly Bears Expand their Range

Conservation | July 28, 2017

Grizzly bears continue to show up in places where they have not been seen in decades or even generations. Among the latest sightings is a trail camera that captured a bear in the Big Belt Mountains of west-central Montana.

“This is the first record we’ve had in a very long time in the Big Belts,” Jay Kolbe, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) biologist, told the Great Falls Tribune. “To me, it’s a surprise it’s taken this long,”

Previous sightings placed grizzlies both north and south of the latest documented sighting.

“The question is, ‘Where did this bear come from?'” Gary Bertellotti, FWP Region 4 supervisor, told the Great Falls Tribune. “We have no clue. And how long has it been there?”

Grizzlies are found south of the Big Belts in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem as well as north and west in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem that includes Glacier Park.

(Photo source: Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks)