Posted: Monday, August 20, 2007 12:00 am
Livestock killer
Some bears never learn to coexist with people or livestock. For example, meet bear No. 212 - first captured in 1993 as a sub-adult male, weighing 150 pounds.
"We first ran into him in the Meeteetse area," said Mark Bruscino, who heads Wyoming's grizzly recovery efforts.
The young male had developed an early and ultimately fatal habit: killing and eating livestock. He was captured and moved away from grazing allotments in 1997, but found his way back and graduated from mutton to beef on the hoof, killing at least 20 cattle before he was killed by game wardens in 2000.
Curiously, the Meeteetse community dubbed the bear "Little Wahb," after the orphan bear in the novel "Biography of a Grizzly" by Earnest Thompson Seton. By then, No. 212 was a lot bigger, weighing between 600 and 700 pounds.
"Little Wahb" gave biologists and game wardens fits. The bear had learned to be extremely secretive and was rarely seen by anyone. At the earliest sign of trouble, bear No. 212 would flee, Bruscino said, and the bear's radio collar wasn't much of a help to the bear team.
"This bear was extremely trap-wise," Bruscino said.
Bruin burglar
Some bears that just can't turn away from temptation - bears like No. 226, a big male, first caught and collared at the age of 12.
"He'd had no conflicts until he walked through an unlocked cabin door and discovered an extremely big food reward," Bruscino said.
Fifty pounds of grain and cans of Spam were too much to resist, and bear No. 226 become something of a break-in artist.
"He avoided occupied cabins and scouted for empty cabins," Bruscino said.
With powerful blows and sharp claws, No. 226 broke into at least six cabins. The resourceful bear packed gallon-sized jars of food into nearby trees, unscrewing lids to get to the goodies within.
Ultimately, a big pile of M&M candies lured No. 226 into a trap, and his break-in days were over. He was put down in 1994.
- Brodie Farquhar