Grizzly that killed chickens west of Big Sandy not spotted since

Officials report that a grizzly bear that killed two chickens at a residence 20 miles west of Big Sandy has not returned or been sighted since.

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks reported the conflict Wednesday and requested that anyone who know the area where it happened stay away.

Since then, Bear Management Specialist Wesley Sarmento said, his agency has held public meetings in Loma and announced the incident on their Facebook page so everyone knows the situation.

Sarmento said the conflict is likely resolved since the fence on the coop the bear attacked has since been electrified. But, he said, there’s always the possibility that it will show up again looking for food.

“It’s possible that it will come to another residence looking for pet food or trash, or grain spills or other chickens, because it’s gotten that stuff already,” he said.

He said the animal is likely food-conditioned, but so far retains its fear of humans, and the agency’s plan is to continue hazing it in order to keep it that way.

“It ran off from the house it was at yesterday because a car drove by on the road so it’s still really afraid of people,” Sarmento said.

However, he said if it was observed trying to get into a house, FWP would try to capture the animal.

He said because they are still a threatened species there are no population distribution controls in place and the agency is focused primarily on managing individual bears and make sure they are not a threat to people or property.

“It’s been probably 150 years since bears were common in the area, and in the last 10 years they’ve started to trickle out from the Bob Marshal area,” Sarmento said.

He said the agency has been getting bear sighting near Loma every year since, and he expects sightings to continue to rise as long as they remain a federally protected species.

He said The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is looking to get Yellowstone Grizzly bears off that list since they have biologically recovered, but efforts to do that have been met with lawsuits, and they are trying to find a way to make a delisting ruling that will hold up in court.