BRETT FRENCH | bfrench@billingsgazette.com
The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem saw a record-high number of grizzly bear mortalities in 2025.
Of the 72 bears killed, 54 died in the Demographic Monitoring Area with another 18 outside, according to Matthew Gould of the U.S. Geological Survey. All 18 bear deaths outside the DMA were human caused.
The Demographic Monitoring Area encircles the Primary Conservation Area, designated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as places where bears are counted, managed and studied to ensure the threatened species meets federal goals for recovery outlined in the Endangered Species Act.
State politicians and wildlife managers in Montana and Wyoming are pushing for grizzlies to be removed from the ESA. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has set a goal of Dec. 18 for issuing its decision.
“We have seen a slowing of occupied range, and actually it appears to have stabilized,” Gould said. “We attribute this to kind of a filling in of the ecological and socially suitable habitat in the population. So we’re seeing this recovery process kind of come to a plateau in terms of our occupied range.”
The majority of bears killed were adult males – 30 of the 54 bears inside the DMA and 14 of the 18 outside, according to Gould.
In Yellowstone National Park, one large male bear was killed after it learned how to flip over bear-proof dumpsters to get food, and an old female was killed by another bear.
Montana reported 126 grizzly bear conflicts with humans, none of which involved contact, and 14 grizzly bear removals or mortalities.
Near Red Lodge, in south-central Montana, grizzly encounters climbed in the Beartooth Mountains.
“Whether it’s just more people in the woods or, you know, greater distribution of bears, it’s hard to say, but probably a little bit of both,” said Daniel McHugh, a bear management specialist for Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks.
Wyoming officials responded to 12 self-defense shootings, six of which involved grizzlies, out of a reported 220 grizzly bear conflicts, most of which occurred in August. Two people were injured by grizzlies. Twenty-seven grizzlies were killed in “management removals” and one grizzly was killed by another bear.
Last year, mainly in the Island Park area, Idaho Fish and Game recorded 45 conflicts with grizzlies – including one human who was injured – along with public safety threats, encounters, property damage and bears getting into human food. There were also at least 15 cattle killed by grizzlies, along with 14 sheep.
The Idaho Department of Fish and Game killed three grizzlies for repeatedly preying on livestock and another for frequently raiding garbage. In two incidents a hunter shot and killed a charging bear and a vehicle struck one grizzly on the highway.