BOISE, Idaho — The Idaho Department of Fish and Game will begin its yearly trapping of grizzly bears for research purposes on Sunday.
Biologists will focus first on trapping bears in the Upper Snake Region, in areas where hunting is prohibited in order to avoid conflicts with hunters. Trapping will then expand in the Caribou-Targhee National Forest on July 1 to within the caldera in Island Park, west of Highway 20 along the Centennial Mountain Range, and in the Cave Falls and Teton areas near the Wyoming border.
Trapping sites and areas leading to the traps will be marked with warning and closures signs. The public is asked to stay out of the marked areas.
Captured bears that meet the criteria for the research are sedated and fit with radio collars. Biologists will monitor radio-collared female bears to document their age when they reproduce, litter size, survival rates for their offspring and how often they give birth to a litter of cubs.
Male grizzlies will also be monitored, allowing scientists to develop data on survival rates for different age and sex classes, habitat use, and food habits.
Trapping is expected to finish in late August.
