KETCHUM, Idaho — A young black bear cub was relocated from Ketchum earlier this month after weeks of reported sightings.
On Tuesday, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG) announced on Dec. 12, biologists trapped and captured the cub. Officials said many reports the department received "were of the bear getting access to residential garbage and other food sources such as bird feeders."
IDFG said the decision to relocate the bear was made after it started to show warning signs of wanting to create a den underneath home decks. The bear was relocated to the mountain north of Carey, officials said.
"We gave this young-of-the-year bear a pass, if you will, because of its age and the hope that it won't continue to seek out human food sources next year," said Mike McDonald, Regional Wildlife Manager with the Magic Valley Region, in a news release. "The bear had become food-conditioned and our concern was that it would den inside city limits, then next spring, come out of hibernation and fall back into its learned behavior of finding human sourced food, which could easily lead to a public safety issue."
IDFG said the black bear cub was big for its age, weighing an estimated 60 pounds, which they say is because of the amount of food it was finding in Ketchum.
The department noted that with a large amount of available food, the bears could delay or forgo hibernating. It's because one of the factors of the natural state is to survive the winter when food becomes scarce.
"Because of this, residents are asked to continue to secure their residential garbage carts in either a garage or locked shed. Bird feeders should be taken down and secured in a garage or shed at night to discourage bears from finding an easy high-calorie food source," IDFG wrote.
