Officials confirm grizzly bear sighting near Salmon, urging residents to be cautious – East Idaho News

The next is a information launch from the Idaho Division of Fish and Sport.

SALMON – Idaho Fish and Sport officers have confirmed a grizzly bear sighting within the North Fork space north of Salmon, an space not sometimes recognized for having grizzlies. The bear was photographed by a hunter’s sport digicam on Could 14, and the bear was clearly recognized as a grizzly. It’s not recognized if the bear continues to be within the space.

Owners, recreationists and hunters are requested to be “Bear Conscious” and take away any attainable meals attractants, similar to rubbish, animal feed, or different meals objects.

Bear hunters in Models 21, 21A, 28 and adjoining models must fastidiously determine their targets and shouldn’t assume any bear they see is a black bear.

Most of Idaho’s grizzly bear populations are within the northern Panhandle space and the world in and round Yellowstone Nationwide Park in japanese Idaho. However younger male grizzlies might wander lengthy distances and into areas the place individuals don’t anticipate to come across them. These younger male bears sometimes wander by an space, however do not stay there.

Grizzlies are uncommon within the Salmon space. The final confirmed sighting in Salmon space was in 2020 from video footage of a younger male grizzly bear southeast of Salmon. That very same yr, one other grizzly was confirmed south of Grangeville.

Grizzly bears are federally protected in Idaho, so there isn’t any searching season for them. You possibly can be taught extra about grizzly administration on Fish and Sport’s Conservation and Administration webpage.

Outside recreationists are reminded that grizzlies and black bears are a part of Idaho’s panorama. Taking some easy, preventive measures and utilizing frequent sense will go a good distance in the direction of minimizing bear conflicts.

Suggestions for recreationists embody:

• Maintain a clear camp. Choose up rubbish and retailer it together with all meals in a closed automobile or in plastic luggage tied excessive between two timber, a minimum of 100 yards from the sleeping space and a minimum of 10 toes off the bottom and 4 4 toes out from both tree. Meals can be saved in an permitted bear-proof meals container. By no means hold meals in your tent.
• Don’t bury meals scraps, pour out cooking grease, or depart something that may be tasty on the bottom or in a hearth pit. Additionally, retailer barbecue grills or different smelly cooking gear inside your automobile or inside a sealed container. Bears have an amazing sense of scent and they’re nosy by nature.
• In the event you see a bear, watch it from a distance and depart it alone.
• In the event you’re involved about encountering a bear and need to defend your self, bear spray is an efficient deterrent.

Anybody who sees a grizzly outdoors of their regular vary within the Panhandle and japanese Idaho is requested to report it on-line at Fish and Sport’s Wildlife Commentary webpage.