Study shows more grizzly bears ethuanized this year

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) – Wildlife managers have euthanized 24 grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem so far this year.

Information compiled by the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team shows that is the highest number in the past five years.

Most of the bears had to be killed for killing livestock or becoming habituated to human food sources.

Supervisory wildlife biologist Frank van Manen tells The Billings Gazette (http://bit.ly/1XHm8Mz) that the increase comes on the heels of two years when relatively few grizzly bears had to be euthanized.

He says there’s no one specific reason for the increase but factors that influence the situation include a larger population of bears pushing to the fringes of its core recovery area and a reduction in the availability of natural food sources.

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Information from: The Billings Gazette, http://www.billingsgazette.com