Three grizzly bears were recently captured and euthanized because the bears had become food conditioned, resulting in property damage, and lots of dead chickens in one case.

Jim Williams, regional wildlife manager for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, called the situation unfortunate.

“We typically learn from the bear’s behavior when it is time to remove them,” he said. “There is a threshold at which it is not safe to release a problem grizzly bear back into the wild. In all three of these cases the bears had progressed to breaking through structures near occupied residences and ... had a long previous history of conflict with humans. In each case, the problems started with human attractants.”

The bears were captured by Tim Manley, a state grizzly bear management specialist, and euthanized with the assistance of local veterinarians.

A 3-year-old, 140-pound was captured Oct. 28 near Nyack, east of West Glacier, after the bear had broken into a chicken coop to get chicken feed. The bear also attempted to get through a door on a porch to get dog food.

Another grizzly bear was captured in the Glen Lake area near Eureka Oct. 30. The 375-pound, 6-year-old male had been killing chickens and breaking into structures. Due to the property damage and large number of chickens that were killed at several locations, the decision was made to remove the bear.

A third bear was a 7-year-old, 525-pound male that was captured on the east side of the Flathead Valley near Mud Lake on Nov. 2. The bear had caused extensive damage to a tack shed that was used to store horse grain. The landowner had made a good effort to bear proof the shed after a bear tried to get into it about 10 years ago. The bear put a hole through a wall on the shed and also tore down steel mesh over a metal door that was pushed in.

Manley noted that overall, this fall had been quiet up until October. Bear conflicts over the last month resulted in trapping efforts in the Farm-to-Market, Blankenship, Columbia Falls and Pinkham Creek areas.

Most grizzly bears den during November, and an Oct. 19 radio telemetry flight showed that three female grizzly bears had already entered their dens.

“The best thing that residents living in bear country can do to prevent bear conflicts is to secure attractants such as garbage, pet food and bird feeders so that bears don’t get food rewards and start looking around homes and buildings for food,” Manley said. “Chickens and other livestock can be protected with properly installed and maintained electric fencing.”