GREAT FALLS, Mont. - Bear managers have been the No. 1 killers of grizzlies in northwestern Montana over the past decade.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says "management removals" - the killing of bears, primarily for raiding food or killing cattle on private land - are responsible for 58 of the 179 grizzly bears people have killed since 1999. That represents 32 percent of human-caused grizzly bear deaths.

Illegal shootings were responsible for 34 grizzly deaths since 1999, making it the second leading human-caused method of grizzly mortality. Twelve of the shootings were cases of mistaken identity by black bear hunters.

It's been a relatively good year for grizzlies in Montana, with nine human-caused deaths reported, including one classified as a management removal. In 2007, there were 26 human-caused grizzly deaths in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem.