Grizzly bear euthanized on Yellowstone River outside park

Montana authorities on Thursday shot and killed an adult male grizzly bear on the Yellowstone River just outside Yellowstone National Park.

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks explained in a news release that the bear had become conditioned to unsecured food items in Gardiner and was implicated in several home and vehicle break-ins.

Repeated efforts by Fish, Wildlife & Parks and other agencies to trap and remove the bear were unsuccessful.

The bear was killed, FWP stated, because “the wide availability of unsecured attractants, combined with the bear being active almost exclusively at night, limited opportunities to remove the animal without creating additional human safety risks.”

Gardiner, on the Yellowstone River, at twilight. Photo: ©Pete Thomas

Gardiner is just outside Yellowstone National Park’s North Entrance. The Yellowstone River runs through the park and town en route to its confluence with the Missouri River.

Early Thursday, FWP received a report of a bear that had broken into a home just north of Gardiner. The bear was located in the Yellowstone River and shot.

Tests conducted after the carcass had been recovered confirmed that it was the problem bear.

FWP urges residents and motorists to secure food items and is working with property owners to upgrade garbage storage and install electric fencing.

Gardiner is no stranger to incursions by large critters. Elk commonly stroll through town and wolves have been known to hunt elk in the area.

Last spring, a wolf pack from Yellowstone National Park devoured a cow elk, leaving only partial remains, on the Gardiner School football field.

The wolves killed the elk after dark on April 11 and had vanished back into the park before dawn on April 12.