After consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department relocated a sub adult male grizzly bear Saturday after it was captured for  attraction to human food sources on private land and relocated it to the Fox Creek area approximately 8 miles from the Northeast Entrance of Yellowstone National Park.

Bears are relocated in accordance with state and federal law and regulation, and Game and Fish is required to notify the media whenever a grizzly bear is relocated.

“Grizzly bear relocation is a management tool large carnivore biologists use to minimize conflicts between humans and grizzly bears. It is critical to managing the expanding population of grizzly bears in Wyoming,” Game and Fish said in a press release Monday. 

“Capture is necessary when other deterrents or preventative options are exhausted or unattainable,” the release said. Once the animal is captured, all circumstances are taken into account when determining if the individual should be relocated. If relocation is warranted, a site is determined by considering the age, sex, and type of conflict the bear was involved in as well as potential human activity nearby. 

Grizzly bears are only relocated into areas already occupied by other grizzly bears. With any relocation, Game and Fish consults with appropriate agencies to minimize the chance of future conflicts and maximize the relocated grizzly bear’s survival.

Bears that are considered a threat to human safety are not relocated, according to the department. In some cases, a bear may be lethally removed from the population if it cannot be relocated successfully.

Game and Fish continues to stress the importance of the public’s responsibility in bear management and the importance of keeping all attractants such as food, garbage, horse feed and bird seed unavailable to bears. Reducing attractants available to bears reduces human-bear conflicts, and in some cases, relocations.