As part of ongoing efforts to monitor grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department and the U.S. Geological Survey plan to capture bears in parts of northwest Wyoming — including Yellowstone National Park — this spring through fall.

All areas where captures are being conducted will have major access points marked with warning signs, as well as area closure signs in the direct vicinity of capture sites. 

“It is critical that all members of the public heed these signs,” the Game and Fish and the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team said in separate news releases about their operations.

To attract bears, biologists use natural food sources such as recently road-killed deer and elk. Potential capture sites are baited and when researchers find indications that grizzlies are in the area, culvert traps or foot snares are deployed. Captured animals are then marked, released on site and monitored in accordance with guidelines developed by Game and Fish and the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team (IGBST). 

The study team said its work in Yellowstone will start May 1 and run through Oct. 15.

“Annual monitoring of this population is vital to the ongoing management and conservation of grizzly bears in Wyoming,” the Game and Fish added in its release.

The state agency said information obtained from the operations is used to assess the status and health of the federally protected species within the ecosystem and “provides insight into population dynamics critical to demonstrate the continued recovery and conservation of grizzly bears.”

For more information regarding grizzly bear capture efforts, call the IGBST trapping hotline at 406-994-6675 or the Game and Fish Lander Regional Office at 307-332-2688.