Grizzly bear killed near Red Lodge after attacks on cattle

A 10-year-old male grizzly bear with a history of killing livestock was euthanized this weekend after it was captured for killing cattle southeast of Red Lodge. The 400-pound bear was caught in a culvert trap Friday by federal Wildlife Services agents on the Sunlight Ranch near the upper forks of the Bearcreek Basin. "It was never seen," said Shawn Stewart, a Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks wildlife biologist based in Red Lodge. "We finally saw tracks and hair on a fence so we knew that we were dealing with a grizzly bear." Wyoming officials captured the bear in 2007 north of Cody after it killed cows in that area. They put a microchip and lip tattoo in the animal for future identification and released it west of Dubois, Wyo., about 90 miles southwest of Cody. The bear apparently traveled north through the Yellowstone area and into Montana this year, Stewart said. After reports of livestock depredation near Red Lodge, federal agents spent about 10 days trying to capture the bear. Stewart said it had killed at least three cows and two calves. Other cattle deaths at the ranch couldn't be confirmed as bear kills. Because the bear was a two-time offender, biologists decided to euthanize the animal...more