According to an article in the January 2016 “Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Region 2 Wildlife Quarterly”, black bears in western Montana suffered a catastrophic food failure in the Fall of 2015.

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) bear specialists, wardens and biologists in Region 2 received 40 to 50 bear complaints and reports from the public daily, beginning on August 24, which continued through October. 

The problem began with the unseasonably early ripening and passing of wild hawthorn, which attracted bears to low areas along the urban interface. Bears eat as much of the hawthorn berries as they can in the fall to fatten up before winter.  As the hawthorn berries started to disappear, the bears turned to ornamental fruits ripening on nearby private properties and parks, attracting dozens of black bears into civilization about one month earlier than normal.

Conflicts between bears and humans continued unabated as FWP continually removed offending animals.  The situation progressed in Missoula to the point where some maternal female bears abandoned their young-of-the-year cubs, due to inadequate nutrition.  According to the article, the poor condition of bears going into hibernation may reduce the survival of cubs born in 2015, as well as those soon to be born in 2016.

In 2015, FWP recorded the mortalities of 377 black bears across the 10,549 square miles of FWP Region 2, in west-central Montana.  Mortalities included hunter harvests, road-kills, human conflicts and all other causes. 

Because black bears are more vulnerable when subjected to food stress, mortalities were higher in 2015 compared to the past 9 years, when comparable data were available for comparison.