BOISE, Idaho — Idaho Fish and Game (IDFG) announced quite the story on Tuesday, retelling the journey of a lone black bear cub who walked its way across the state.
The story starts in Carmen, Idaho, which is just north of Salmon. Idaho Fish and Game says there has been a large uptick in black bear presence in that area, with many bears finding food sources in the shape of garbage or pet food.
One cub had become a regular eater of someone's pet food, which can lead to a bear becoming food-conditioned. IDFG said that a food-conditioned bear is not a good thing and can result in a bear being put down for public safety.
Because the cub is so young, IDFG determined that this cub would be a good candidate for relocation. On Oct. 3, a regional wildlife biologist from Salmon darted and ear-tagged the cub. They also relocated the cub to Panther Creek in the Salmon National Forest.
The point of the ear tag was to help biologist learn about the bears, with each tag getting a unique number attached to it.
Over the next 17 days, the tagged cub began its journey, walking well over 120 miles to get to Hailey, Idaho. IDFG said that they don't know exactly what happened, but what they do know is that the cub, with it's small green ear tag, was observed in Hailey the weekend of Oct. 19-20. IDFG said there's a flurry of obstacles that the bear had to have passed on its journey, including several mountain ranges, state highways and an unknown amount of vehicles.
On Oct. 21, conservation officers reported the first sighting of the cub, finding it in a backyard, casually eating apples. The day before a middle school student saw the cub, capturing a picture of it.
IDFG came onto the scene and determined that the young bear was in good health and had high probability of surviving on its own, meaning IDFG could relocate the cub.
While the bear has a tendency to seek food from human sources, IDFG said that there is hope it's not fully food-conditioned.
Using a baited trap, staff were able to get the yearling bear and transport it to the regional office in Jerome. From there, IDFG were able to find a suitable area for the bear in eastern Idaho. Wildlife biologist from the Southeast Region took the bear on Oct. 22, then released it east of Pocatello in the Caribou National Forest.
IDFG points out that bears have become an issue in the Wood River Valley area, with more than 80 calls coming in this year alone.
No bears have been euthanized in the Wood River Valley since 2022.
