Another Grizzly Killed In Selkirk Mountains $3,500 Reward Offered In Death Of Female Yearling

Of 13 collared bears that have died since 1983, only three have died of natural causes.

For the second time in two years, a female grizzly bear has been reported killed in the Selkirk Mountains bear recovery area north of Bonners Ferry, Idaho.

There is a $3,500 reward for information leading to the arrest of the killer, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The body of the 95-pound yearling was found stashed near a U.S. Forest Service road in the Kaniksu National Forest in May, the Fish and Wildlife Service revealed Monday. The bear apparently was shot in May, during spring black bear hunting.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife officials couldn’t be reached for comment as to why the news was not released for two months.

The bear’s death deals another blow to efforts to revive the threatened grizzly population in the recovery area, which encompasses a portion of northeastern Washington and North Idaho, near the Canadian border. Researchers said there were only 25 grizzlies before the latest incident, although some believe that figure is far too optimistic.

“Young female bears such as this are critical to the successful recovery of the grizzly bear in this area,” said Wayne Wakkinen, an Idaho Fish and Game Department biologist who works on bear recovery.

Humans killing bears are the most limiting factor in grizzly recovery, he said. “Out of 13 radio-collared bears that have died since the recovery program began in 1983, only three have died of natural causes,” Wakkinen said.

The rest have been killed by poachers and other human endeavors. That includes the 1993 killing of Sy, an adult female, by former sales executive Robert C. Wenger, 49, of Spokane.

Sy was the first grizzly fitted with a radio collar in the Selkirks and was studied for a decade. Researchers consider her loss to be significant.

She was hit with as many as five rounds from Wenger’s rifle in October 1993. He left her two cubs to die.

Wenger claimed the bear charged him and that he acted in self-defense. He was convicted of the killing, fined $21,000 and ordered not to hunt for five years.

The latest killing is being investigated by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Idaho Division of Law Enforcement. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Idaho Fish and Game officers Greg Johnson at (208) 267-7629 or Don Carr at (208) 448-2302, or Roger Parker at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, (509) 928-6050.

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