Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program: Iowa
Education, Research and Technical Assistance for Managing Our Natural Resources

Grizzly bears (Ursus arctos horribilis) inhabit the Mission Mountains on the Flathead Indian Reservation in western Montana. Their spring and fall foraging brings then to low elevations (975 m), where they have coexisted with a ranching economy since the 1900s. The goal of the 1981 Reservation Grizzly Bear Management Plan is to "secure and/or maintain a viable, self-sustaining population in essential habitat occupied in the Mission Mountains." Bears that prey on livestock are usually removed from the population. We examined the circumstances of livestock depredations by grizzly bears from 1960 to 1982 and found that subadults and adults of both sexes were involved with depredations. There are at least 2 factors leading to livestock depredation and "problem" bear status: individual bear behavior and human environment. Our systematic determination of "problem or nuisance" bear status is crucial, because initiation of bear trapping causes intense public interest and agency commitment. Selective bear removal has broadened human tolerance, potentially increasing survival of the bear population. Grizzly bear mortalities from nonhunting causes have been reduced from an annual average of 2.25 bears for 1972-79 to 1.33 bears for 1980-82 after intensive management effort.