courtesy of trib.com
by Christine Peterson
It’s a big old bear. Wyoming Game and Fish officials caught the first grizzly bear of the season this morning in a snare outside of Meeteetse. The bear weighs 520 pounds, one of the largest bears Bear Conflict Management Supervisor Mark Bruscino has seen in the spring. Bruscino estimates it’s 20 years old and near the end of an average bear lifespan.
It was caught on the third morning of trapping after frequenting a pit with several dead cow carcasses. Because he’d never been caught causing problems before and is healthy, Bruscino is driving him to a release site in the mountains outside of Dubois. The distance puts as much wilderness between the bear and the ranch as is possible with deep snow still covering most of the mountains in northwest Wyoming.
Teklanika Nature Photography 