A shed hunter shot and killed a grizzly bear last week after it charged him at close range near Dupuyer, Montana. According to a press release issued by Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP), the man escaped the harrowing encounter without injury.
"The man was searching for antlers on a brushy hillside when he first saw a bear," FWP stated in the press release shard with Field & Stream on April 14. "The bear was an adult female grizzly in good condition with no history of conflict and was estimated to be 13 years old and weighing around 250 pounds." The female grizzly killed in the attack had one yearling cub which was left at the scene, the state agency went on to note.
Grizzlies are emerging from winter dens across Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho just as shed hunters are combing habitat that the bears share with deer and elk. According to FWP, grizzly populations are growing in many parts of the Treasure State, "increasing the likelihood that residents and recreationists will encounter them in more places each year."
While grizzlies have reached recovery levels in both the the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) and the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem—two separate recovery zones designated by the US Fish & Wildlife Service—they're still listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) throughout the Lower 48.
"Management authority for grizzlies rests with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, working closely in Montana with FWP, the Forest Service, the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Geological Survey, Wildlife Services, and Native American tribes," FWP states. "This collaboration happens through the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee."
Wether or not grizzlies will be removed from their long tenure on the federal Endangered Species List remains to be seen. During President Trump's first term, the US Fish & Wildlife Service delisted grizzlies in the GYE—momentarily transferring management responsibilities to the state fish and game agencies in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. But a district court judge overturned the ruling.
In January 2025, the USFWS canceled four public meetings meant to address grizzly bear delisting, citing a need for the incoming administration to analyze recent changes to the Service's Grizzly Bear Recovery Program, Montana Public Radio reports. Since then, Trump's pick to head the Service, former head of the Wyoming Game & Fish Department Brian Nesvik, has signaled his support for delisting.
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More recently, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), effectively dismantled the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee (IGBC)—a team of grizzly bear biologists that collaborated with state and tribal agencies on grizzly bear management. According to reporting from WyoFile, the renowned team of grizzly bear researchers has been in operation since the 1970s. And the group's recent studies "make the case that grizzly bears are fully recovered and no longer require Endangered Species Act protection."
