Walk In The Wild Bears Won’t Be Going To Montana State Rejects Man’s Request To Put Two Grizzlies In Private Park

Russell Kilpatrick wants to buy two grizzly bears from a Spokane zoo for his private bear park at Coram, Mont., but the state wildlife department says no - just as it did in 1993.

Kilpatrick sued the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks in 1993 for blocking him from showing grizzlies at his Great Bear Adventures, but he lost.

The department also had ordered Kilpatrick to spay his female black bears so they would not attract wild bears during the mating season. He refused, saying the operation was experimental and dangerous for the bears. Instead, he shot the animals.

Kilpatrick says the state’s refusal to let him show grizzlies has cost him $1 million in legal fees and lost revenue over the past six years.

“It’s an outrage, to say the least. They have literally ruined my whole life,” he said.

Spokane’s Walk in the Wild zoo is getting rid of its two Alaska brown bears.

“He is only licensed for black bear,” said Karen Zackheim, of Fish, Wildlife and Parks law enforcement in Helena.

Officials cite three main worries about grizzlies at Great Bear Adventures: 1) the bear park is in a major grizzly travel corridor, 2) a grizzly could escape and breed with local bears, polluting the local gene pool, and 3) the agency is concerned about the style of display at Great Bear Adventures, where the bears roam a large fenced compound, and visitors view them from their cars.

If Kilpatrick were willing to build a closed cage especially for grizzly bears and would agree to sterilize the bears, the department would reconsider, she said.