After "several conflicts with people," two grizzly bears, a mother and a male cub, were apprehended in Montana and put to death. According to the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Parks, the bears frequently broke into cabins, garages, outdoor freezers, unsecured garbage, and a trailer in quest of food.
The decision to put both creatures to death, the agency stated in a news release, came after "numerous reports" of incidents in which they harmed property while looking for human food, even after officials tried to return the 6-year-old mother and cub from a populated area to the wild, according to CBS News.
The two grizzly bears were initially believed to be in the Fortine region of Lincoln County in northwest Montana, where they were suspected of being responsible for many recorded break-ins to unattended garbage in early August.
The mother and cub were subsequently relocated by bear experts to a forest close to Frozen Lake and Tuchuck Mountain along the Canadian border.
However, the bears continued to the northern fork of the Flathead River, roughly 35 miles south, where they "began seeking food sources by breaking into cabins, garages, outdoor freezers, and a trailer," according to officials. It was then that the two bears were apprehended.
The animals were put to sleep in accordance with the rules established by the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee, a group that collaborates with state and local authorities in parts of the western United States to manage grizzly bear populations.
Reports and video footage showed that the mother and cub "were severely food conditioned and habituated to people," and the bears were killed as a result. Also consulted was the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
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Bear Attacks in Montana
After a hunter was brutally mauled by a grizzly bear earlier this month, authorities in southwest Montana shuttered a portion of the national park.
And on September 2, after a grizzly broke into a home close to West Yellowstone, authorities shot and killed the animal. That bear also attacked a lady in Idaho three years prior, killing her on a forest walk in July.
Both grizzly bears and black bears can be found in Montana, which is known as "bear country." Bears are "increasingly active" when looking for food during the fall months before the "denning season," according to authorities.
A grizzly bear cub's weight can reach 200 pounds by the end of its first year.
The World Animal Foundation reports that there are 40 bear attacks per year. There are typically 18 of such in North America.
Related article : Woman Dead Over Suspected Bear Attack Near Yellowstone Park
