KALISPELL, Mont. - Six grizzly bears have been removed from the Northern Continental Divide population in two separate trapping efforts by state officials over the last 10 days east of Kalispell.

Two adult females were put down and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks is looking for a zoo to take four cubs that were captured.

The first family group involved a 5- or 6-year-old unmarked female with two cubs of the year.

Attempts at capturing the bears had been under way for about two months in response to the bears breaking into chicken coops, barns, sheds and garages, as well as killing pigs on properties east of Montana 206 and north of Lake Blaine.

They were captured on Nov. 16 and 17, and the decision was made in consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to remove them from the wild.

The second family group involved an 18-year-old female and two cubs of the year that also were causing trouble in the Lake Blaine area. Biologists were very familiar with the sow, since she been captured and relocated nine times since she was first trapped 11 years ago north of Lake Blaine.

In the past, most of her conflicts were minor and involved feeding on apples near homes.

This fall, she began feeding on pig feed and ended up killing a pig. The family group was captured on Nov. 21 near Elk Park Road, and the decision was made to remove the bears from the wild.

The four cubs have been transported to the state Wildlife Center in Helena and efforts are under way to place them in zoos.

"We are entering a new era in grizzly bear management," said Jim Williams, regional wildlife manager for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. "With a functionally recovered population of grizzly bears, we will continue to experience increased conflicts between bears and humans."

As the Northern Continental Ecosystem population continues to grow, the state "can be more aggressive in removing those females and males that continue to conflict with humans," Williams added.

Rick Mace, a biologist with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks who has led a grizzly population trend study, said the North Continental Divide population now has about 1,000 bears and his research indicates the population is growing about 2 to 3 percent annually.

"Although the recent removals of adult females with cubs are regrettable, these mortalities are well within sustainable mortality limits," Mace said.

Tim Manley, a state grizzly bear management specialist, said there have been a record 44 captures of grizzlies for management reasons during the 2011 field season. Since 1993, there has been an average of 17 management captures a year.

This year's captures involved 28 individual bears, some of which were trapped on multiple occasions, and 11 bears were removed from the population.

That included six bears that were killed, a subadult male that was sent to the Grizzly Wolf Discovery Center near Yellowstone National Park and the four cubs that may be placed in zoos. The remaining 17 bears are still in the wild and most of them are radio-collared and being monitored.

In other grizzly bear news, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks is investigating a case of a grizzly bear being shot north of Libby recently.

And Manley conducted a monitoring flight Monday, finding that out of 12 grizzlies that were located, six were in their dens while three were on deer or elk carcasses or on gut piles left by hunters.

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at jmann@dailyinterlake.com.