A Wyoming grizzly bear got a new home after repeated depredation on cattle near Cody. The Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD) captured the male grizzly and relocated him to the Blackrock Creek drainage in Bridger-Teton National Forest, according to the Cowboy State Daily.

“This was our first grizzly bear relocation of the year,” said WGFD Large Carnivore Specialist Dan Thompson. “Luckily, we've had some of our lowest annual number of relocations over the last few years. But every year can be different.” 

This particular grizzly had no former track record of being a nuisance, which is why WGFD decided to relocate the bear rather than kill it. For WGFD, relocation is fairly routine with the help of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Thompson notes that “each situation is extremely unique” and it’s up to the large carnivore biologists to decide on a “proper management action.”

“In this specific situation, we captured the bear and felt that it was a fairly opportunistic depredation scenario,” said Thompson. “After internal consultation and discussion with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the decision was made to relocate this individual.”

Grizzly bears have been very active in northwest Wyoming, particularly along the South Fork of the Shoshone River, according to Thompson, where ranchers have reported cattle depredation. 

“We don't have an exact number of verified conflicts this year or depredations because things are moving swiftly and occurring daily,” said Thompson. “Rather than give an inaccurate number, we quantify all of our verified bear-human conflicts and report them after we survive the active bear season.”

While there have been more sightings of grizzlies in the region, Thompson said WGFD “has been responding to fewer conflicts,” which could mean that humans and bears are learning how to coexist – or at least avoid each other. While Thompson is optimistic that the number of conflicts will continue to be below average, he also notes that it will be a busy summer as bears roam and more people are out recreating.

“With the abundance of grizzly bears and people, we expect to be busy reducing conflict potential,” said Thompson. “This becomes more difficult as bears expand into private lands and habitats that are less secure than some of the areas where grizzly bears have thrived for decades in the recovery zone and demographic monitoring area.”