Grizzly still in Cd'A River drainage

COEUR d'ALENE - Wildlife managers did a flyover of the Coeur d'Alene River drainage Monday and determined the lost Montana grizzly bear is still roaming the area.

"The bear is still in the same vicinity," said Wayne Kasworm from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service of Libby, Mont. "It's probably not the best place for him to be, but he didn't get the memo."

Kasworm said there were a couple sightings over the weekend by fishermen on the river, but that was about it. He was unsure if the local authorities have plans to trap the bear and relocate it.

If they do decide to recapture the bear, Kasworm said, a group of agencies would assess the bear's condition and make a determination on where the bear would be released.

"We could take it back to the Cabinets, or we could decide to take it back to its original location in the Flathead River range," he said. "It really comes down to what is the best opportunity for the success of the bear."

Phil Cooper, a spokesman for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, said his agency is still debating how to deal with the bear.

"The department is considering whether to trap it and take it back to where it came from," Cooper said. "But that decision has not been made yet."

The bear was trapped in early August as part of the USFWS Cabinet Mountain Grizzly Augmentation project. It has relocated 18 bears to the Cabinet Mountains since the project began 25 years ago. All but five of those bears have remained in the Cabinets, Kasworm said.

Shortly after the bear was released with a radio tracking collar near Whitefish, Mont., wildlife managers lost track of him.

They finally found the 165-pound, 2-year-old bear about two weeks ago, making its way toward the Coeur d'Alene River drainage. There have been several sightings of the bear since then.

Kasworm and Cooper said a short supply of huckleberries in the high country terrain has driven both grizzlies and black bears into the lower valley areas in search of food, which is cause for some concern with hunting season getting into full swing.

"We certainly don't want hound hunters to encounter it, or to have it habituated to humans with all of the campers in the area," he said.

Cooper said if the department decides to trap the bear, it will return the grizzly to Montana.

"If it is trapped it will likely be moved back to where it was originally tagged," he said.