Authorities warn BOCC of potential grizzly issue

WALLACE — Last week, the Shoshone Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) met with Shane Robinson, Idaho USDA Wildlife Specialist and John Hull, Director District 1 Animal Damage Control Board for a wildlife services area update.

The annual update was fairly uneventful, however both Robinson and Hull warned the BOCC of a potentially worrisome issue.

“Grizzlies are going to be the next problem around here, we think,” Hull stated.

Robinson explained further how he has already dealt with four different grizzly bear encounters in the Idaho Panhandle this spring.

The most recent of these happened in the small town of Naples, between Sandpoint and Bonners Ferry along Highway 95.

According to reports, a grizzly bear killed a llama and a sheep in early April and then returned a few nights later where it killed two more sheep and a goat.

After the first killings, Idaho Fish and Game and Wildlife Services staff placed traps and cameras on the property — the camera footage from the second attack confirmed their suspicions.

A grizzly bear.

Robinson believes that the reason for the increase in sightings has to do with the late and cold spring that we’re experiencing in North Idaho and that a lack of foliage in the high mountain areas is driving the bears into lower country.

Grizzly bears seemingly require a vast amount of space to themselves, occupying up to 600 square miles — Naples is roughly 30 miles from the northern tip of Shoshone County.

Which makes Hull's prediction seem even more plausible.

While more common in Western Montana, the Bitteroot Mountains that make up much of the Northern Idaho/Montana border are home to a fairly large population of grizzlies.

Robinson and Hull both recommended that anyone with livestock living in the more rural parts of Shoshone County to keep an eye on their animals and report anything that seems suspicious and out of the ordinary.

According to the National Wildlife Federation there are less than 1,500 grizzly bears in the lower 48 states and they are currently considered a threatened species due to overhunting.

Male grizzlies are heavier than the females and can weigh up to 1,700 pounds, while a large female will weigh up to 800 pounds.

Shoshone County makes an annual contribution of $1,000 to the Animal Damage Control Board, and according to BOCC Chairman Mike Fitzgerald, the cost significantly outweighs the potential impact.

“The last time we used them, they relocated some beavers that were on their way to causing damages in the twenties of thousands,” Fitzgerald said.