king' s outdoor world - Index

king' s outdoor world - Hunting Illustrated Magazine Dec/Jan 2008 - Coyote Crazy! - Index

The Latest News and Insights
10
G enetic
test results on the grizzly bear killed in the
Kelly Creek area of the Bitterroot ecosystem show
it was from the Selkirks in north Idaho. A hunter
from Tennessee on an outfi tted bear hunt in Idaho’s North
Fork Clearwater River drainage killed a grizzly bear on
Labor Day, September 3. It is the fi rst grizzly bear verifi ed
since 1946 on the Idaho side of the 5,700-square-mile
Selway-Bitteroot ecosystem in central Idaho and western
Montana.
The 4- to 6-year-old male, about 400 pounds,
with a silvery back and in good physical condition, was
killed three miles from the Montana border. The U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service reports that DNA from the
HUNTING ILLUSTRATED.com
Grizzly Killed in Bitterroots
Bear traveled 141 air miles into new territory
5FRESH SIGN5
bear, when compared to samples from bears in 15 other
areas, matched DNA from bears in the Selkirks. The
distance from the southernmost area of the Selkirks, such
as the town of Priest River, to the spot where this bear
was killed is 141 air miles. Obviously, this bear didn’t
move in a straight line. The origin of this bear highlights
the importance of movement areas on the western edge
of the Bitterroot ecosystem, including the area along the
Montana-Idaho border between Highway 200 and Lookout
Pass; the section of Interstate 90 between Lookout Pass
and St. Regis; and the St. Joe River drainage, north of the
Clearwater drainage where he was shot. Wildlife managers
don’t know how the bear got to Kelly Creek, but the
journey probably involved the areas listed above,
which form the most direct route between
the southern Selkirks and the northern
end of the Bitterroot. That journey
underscores the importance of
migration corridors in grizzly
bear recovery and for all
wildlife movement.
Though grizzly
bears in the Yellowstone
ecosystem have been
removed from the
endangered species list,
they still are protected
as threatened under the
Endangered Species Act in
the Selway-Bitteroot and
Selkirk areas in Idaho.