$11,000 offered for information on grizzly poaching

State and federal authorities have raised the reward for information leading to the conviction of shooters responsible for illegally killing a huge grizzly bear west of Dupuyer to $11,800. That's a higher than usual reward for information about the killing of a grizzly but this bear — which weighed approximately 800 pounds — wasn't an average bear. "It was a popular bear and that's why people contributed money for it," said Brian Lakes, a special agent with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The size of the reward has grown with interest in prosecuting the person or people responsible for the shooting, said Ron Aasheim, a state Fish, Wildlife & Parks spokesman in Helena. Defenders of Wildlife, private individuals, area ranchers, FWP and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have come together to offer the increased reward, which initially was set at $3,000 before groups came forward to assist, Aasheim said. The large grizzly was found dead Aug. 12 near Swift Dam along the Rocky Mountain Front. It was the second largest bear ever captured by wildlife managers in Montana. Bear managers nicknamed the bruin "Maximus." Twenty reward posters are being distributed in communities along the Front by the Fish and Wildlife Service office in Great Falls, Lakes said...read more