Tight Tracking Collar Linked To Bear’s Death Device Placed On Animal As Cub Failed To Fall Off

A grizzly bear found dead last month was wearing a chokingly tight radio tracking collar that was placed on the animal when it was a 40-pound cub and failed to fall off, as designed, as the bear grew to be a 200-pound adult.

The tight collar did not kill the animal directly but may have contributed to its demise, according to the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

“The collar was imbedded in the neck muscle, and severe and chronic infection probably persisted in the region underneath the collar,” wrote Bozeman forensic biologist Keith Aune in the final report on the death. “The neck wound observed on this bear, although severe and most likely debilitating, was not the direct cause of mortality.”

The collar had been placed on the bear in 1990, when the animal was a small cub. Collars for young bears are oversized, giving the bear room to grow. In addition, the collar has a canvas spacer that is designed to rot away. On small bears, that spacer is cut to speed decay.

All those steps were taken on the South Fork bear, said FWP researcher Rick Mace. But for some reason, the collar failed to fall off. By 1992, the batteries had failed, and researchers never again saw the animal alive. “It’s a good system, but this time it failed,” said regional wildlife manager Harvey Nyberg.

The carcass was found in the South Fork of the Flathead River by fisheries biologists.

Mace, who had studied the bear as part of the South Fork Grizzly Project, said his researchers have captured 42 bears, and many of them have been fitted with radios several times.

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