Boise-area sheriff’s deputies kill black bear that became habituated to humans
Gem County Sheriff’s Office deputies killed a young black bear on Wednesday after it became habituated to humans, according to a news release from the Idaho Department of Fish and Game.
Emmett residents first reported seeing the yearling bear on Sunday, June 14, and told Fish and Game the animal was “seeking out and receiving human-related food rewards in town,” Fish and Game Southwest Region spokesperson Brian Pearson wrote in the news release. Pearson said the bear was tipping over trash bins and had access to unsecured livestock feed.
The initial reports came the same day that Fish and Game officers helped Nampa police and firefighters relocate a yearling black bear from a neighborhood near Centennial Golf Course.
Unlike the Nampa bear, the bear in Emmett was “not demonstrating an appropriate fear of humans,” Pearson said in the news release, which was shared on social media by the Gem County Sheriff’s Office. The animal was seen walking through residential areas during the daytime and was moving from areas north of the Payette River toward more densely populated areas, officials said.
Pearson said multiple attempts by Fish and Game to trap the bear were unsuccessful.
On Wednesday, Gem County Sheriff’s deputies saw the bear in Emmett south of the Payette River and were authorized by Fish and Game to kill the animal. Officials said the bear’s behavior constituted an “increasingly unacceptable risk.”
“For IDFG and GCSO, the priority is public safety,” Pearson said. “Moving habituated bears doesn’t resolve bear conflicts. It just relocates the conflicts and creates a public safety risk elsewhere.”
Pearson told the Idaho Statesman earlier in the week that relocating the bear found in a tree in a Nampa neighborhood was a rare outcome for a bear in town. He noted that tranquilizing large animals like bears can be a safety risk on its own.
He confirmed the bear killed in Emmett was not the same bear that was relocated from Nampa, as the relocated bear was fitted with an identifying ear tag. The relocated bear was taken north of Ola — about 30 miles from Emmett.
While Pearson previously said it’s unusual for Fish and Game to receive calls about bears in city limits in the Boise metro area, he noted that wildlife biologists in Southwest Idaho are seeing more reports of bears in towns this year, and earlier in the year than normal.
“That’s likely influenced by the current drought conditions, and biologists expect more bears in places they wouldn’t normally be, as we get into late summer/early fall,” Pearson said in Thursday’s news release.
Fish and Game urges people to report bear problems to the agency early on to increase the likelihood that the animals can be removed and relocated. Officials encourage people to minimize potential bear attractants by feeding pets indoors; removing bird feeders between April and mid-November; keeping coolers, fridges and freezers indoors; and waiting until the day of scheduled trash pickup to set out trash bins.
