Wildlife managers to leave orphaned cubs alone

A person from Island Park killed an adult female grizzly bear, leaving two yearling cubs orphaned, the Idaho Fish and Game said Tuesday.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is investigating the Sept. 12 incident. Further details are not being released.

Some members of the public have urged state and federal agencies to capture the cubs and place them in rehab through the winter, but both state and federal bear managers observe a policy not to capture orphaned yearlings, Fish and Game said.

Idaho Department of Fish and Game Large Carnivore Biologist Bryan Aber said in a news release the yearlings are in good condition and stand a good chance of surviving the winter. Aber said each weighs about 100 pounds.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Grizzly Bear Recovery Coordinator Chris Servheen said that if the bears were captured, they would have to be put in permanent captivity in a zoo or euthanized.

Servheen said their best opportunity to survive is to be left within the habitats where they grew up.