Yelowstone Grizzlies no safer than average bears

The Greater Yellowstone population is coming off the endangered list and might be hunted again, outside of the national park.

By Bettina Boxall, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
11:06 PM PDT, March 31, 2007

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After more than 30 years of strict federal protection, the Yellowstone population of grizzly bears is being removed from the endangered species list by the Bush administration.

Formidable remnants of the wild frontier, the Yellowstone grizzlies, living in and around the national park, have rebounded from fewer than 200 animals in 1975, when they were listed as a threatened species, to about 600 today.

FOR THE RECORD:

Grizzlies: Earlier versions of a link to this story incorrectly stated that bears might be hunted inside Yellowstone National Park. —

"There is simply no way to overstate what an amazing accomplishment this is," Deputy Interior Secretary Lynn Scarlett said Thursday of the grizzly's comeback.

The move means that for the first time in three decades, grizzlies could soon be hunted on a limited basis in some parts of the Yellowstone region — outside the park — where the largest population of grizzlies in the lower 48 states roams across thousands of square miles of mostly federal wild lands.

Were it not for the sanctuary of the park, the Yellowstone bears undoubtedly would have vanished, victims of hunting and clashes with humans who unwittingly attracted them with open garbage dumps and then took a rifle out to settle the encounter.

Although environmentalists agreed the bear numbers have climbed to a heartening degree, some criticized the Yellowstone delisting, warning that climate change is reducing a vital food source and human population growth is increasing the chances of lethal run-ins.

"We're going to take action to fight this," said Louisa Willcox, Wild Bears Project manager for the Natural Resources Defense Council. "It's ill conceived and premature."

According to federal wildlife officials, there are 1,100 to 1,400 of the iconic creatures in the lower 48 states. Four populations in northern Montana and in parts of Idaho and Washington will remain protected under the Endangered Species Act.

There are about 30,000 grizzlies in Alaska and another 25,000 in Canada.

The Yellowstone grizzly bear joins a short list of high-profile species, including the bald eagle and the gray wolf, that the federal government is moving to take off the list.

The key to the bears' success is all the money and attention they've gotten, said Chris Servheen, grizzly bear recovery coordinator for the Fish and Wildlife Service.

"The act works," he said. "I'm lucky to work on a species that is big and flashy, but a lot of people don't have that luxury."

Wildlife managers have spent $24 million over the last 25 years on grizzly recovery.

"It's really important to have this as a success story," Servheen said. "I'm regretting groups [for whom] it's never good enough. Some people always want more."

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