The Wyoming Game and Fish Department announced Wednesday that as part of an ongoing effort to monitor grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, it would trap grizzly bears in the northwest portion of the state over the next few months.
Department biologists will conduct grizzly bear trappings in both front- and backcountry areas. All areas where trapping is being conducted will have major access points marked with warning signs. All trap sites will be posted with area closure signs in the direct vicinity.
When captured, the bears are collared, released on site and monitored by the Game and Fish Department and the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team.
This is an annual event and is vital to the ongoing management and conservation of grizzlies in the state.
Information obtained through the department’s efforts is used to assess the status and health of grizzly bears and provides insight into population dynamics.
All of this is critical to the continued recovery of the Greater Yellowstone population.
This announcement comes days after department officials relocated a grizzly in Cody to Dubois. Earlier in May, a grizzly was captured and euthanized in Wapiti due to health issues and a Cody man was mauled by a bear.