Updated October 19, 2026 04:22PM<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Montana state officials euthanized 14 black bears at a property in Bozeman in September after wildlife wardens found the animals had become so accustomed to human food that they posed a public safety risk.<\/p>\n
According to a September 29 announcement from Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP)<\/a>,\u00a0staff responded to a report of suspected illegal bear feeding at a residence north of Bozeman. During their investigation on September 24 and 25, officials found 15 bears that were severely food-conditioned and habituated to humans. Fourteen\u00a0of the bears were captured and euthanized, while one cub was transported to Montana FWP\u2019s Montana WILD facility in Helena for possible placement at an accredited zoo.<\/p>\n The number of animals involved was highly unusual, according to Morgan Jacobsen, communications and education program manager at Montana FWP. Jacobsen told Outside<\/i> that the investigation remains ongoing and officials have yet to determine how long the alleged feeding occurred, what the bears were eating, or why whether or not the feeding was intentional.<\/p>\n \u201cThis case is different from typical incidents involving bears getting into unsecured garbage or other food sources. It involves the possibility of deliberate feeding,\u201d Jacobsen said.<\/p>\n Montana law prohibits intentionally providing supplemental food to bears. The investigation into what happened at the Bozeman property remains ongoing, and officials have not publicly identified anyone responsible for the alleged feeding.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n What officials have established is that the bears were severely food-conditioned, meaning they had learned to associate people with an easy meal. And according to Chris Servheen, president of the Montana Wildlife Federation, who spent 35 years as the grizzly bear recovery coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, it doesn\u2019t take much for a bear to remember where it found food.<\/p>\n \u201cOne feeding is all it takes, if there\u2019s a significant amount of food there,\u201d Servheen told Outside<\/i>. \u201cBears are information vacuums, and so every time they get food in a certain place, they\u2019re going to remember that.\u201d<\/p>\n A single substantial meal doesn\u2019t necessarily make a bear dangerous, but it can teach the animal to return to a particular location Severheen said. When food remains available, bears may begin regularly visiting the property and eventually seeking food around other nearby homes.<\/p>\n Black bears regularly move through Bozeman and other Montana communities without causing problems, but wildlife managers become concerned when the animals repeatedly find food around people.<\/p>\n What begins with a bear tipping over a garbage can can eventually escalate to damaged property or attempts to enter vehicles, garages, and homes. Bears seeking human food can also become aggressive toward people, although Montana FWP has not reported any attacks involving the 14 bears euthanized near Bozeman.<\/p>\n In this incident, Jacobsen said the bears showed no fear of humans, no longer foraged, and caused property damage.\u00a0Their behavior had become so established that wildlife managers determined they could not safely be returned to the wild.<\/p>\n Relocating bears with these behaviors presents several problems, Servheen explained. Adult bears have strong homing instincts and may travel considerable distances to return to familiar territory, including places where they\u2019ve previously found food.<\/p>\n \u201cAdults have a tremendous homing ability,\u201d Servheen said. \u201cWe can take them 40 miles, and they\u2019ll be back in a couple of days.\u201d<\/p>\n Even if a relocated bear remains in its new habitat, it faces another challenge. Bears learn where to find food and how to survive within their home ranges, often beginning as cubs following their mothers. Moving them into unfamiliar territory can leave them struggling to find natural food sources while competing with bears already living there.<\/p>\n Placement at an accredited zoo is another possibility, but Jacobsen explained that Montana FWP must first find a facility with the space and resources to accommodate the animal. In this case, officials had coordinated with a zoo that potentially could accept a cub, but did not have room for an adult bear. That opportunity allowed Montana FWP to hold one cub at its Montana WILD facility rather than euthanize it alongside the others.<\/p>\n The cub\u2019s age and the zoo\u2019s available space, rather than evidence that it was less food-conditioned, determined why it was spared. Jacobsen did not have an update on its placement as of October 19.<\/p>\n The Bozeman incident comes amid an unusually busy year for wildlife managers responding to bear conflicts in parts of the West.<\/p>\n In south-central Montana, wildlife officials reported roughly 400 bear conflicts by late September, compared with about 175 during all of 2025, according to Montana Public Radio<\/a>. More than 200 conflicts had been reported in Red Lodge alone by late August, where officials were also investigating suspected intentional feeding.<\/p>\n Colorado has also experienced a sharp increase in reported bear activity. According to preliminary figures released by Colorado Parks and Wildlife<\/a>, the state received 8,672 reports of bear sightings and incidents through August 31, compared with 3,680 during the same period in 2025. Those figures include sightings, not just dangerous encounters.<\/p>\n Poor natural food availability can contribute to these encounters, particularly in the fall, when bears enter a period of intense feeding known as hyperphagia<\/i>. During this time, they seek out as many calories as possible to build fat reserves before hibernation.<\/p>\n Servheen cautioned against assuming that bears seeking human food are necessarily starving. He compared the appeal of an easily accessible, calorie-rich meal to walking into an ice cream store.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s like\u00a0putting yourself or myself in an ice cream store,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s not that you\u2019re starving, it\u2019s just that you\u2019re near such a good, concentrated thing to eat. Why should you go anywhere else to get food when it\u2019s right in front of you? Even during years when natural food is plentiful, bears will take advantage of an easy meal.\u201d<\/p>\n Preventing these situations requires more than reminding people not to feed wildlife, according to Alexander Metcalf, a University of Montana researcher who studies the human side of wildlife management.<\/p>\nWhy Couldn\u2019t the Bears Be Relocated?<\/h2>\n
Bear Conflicts Are Increasing Across Parts of the West<\/h2>\n
How People Can Help Prevent Bear Conflicts<\/h2>\n