BRETT FRENCH | bfrench@billingsgazette.com
Despite outreach and community education that intensified last year, grizzly and black bear conflicts and complaints climbed in south-central Montana in 2025, according to Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks.
The 49 grizzly reports were a 133% increase from the five-year average of 21 a year.
“In 2024, the region saw a noticeable uptick in grizzly bear sightings, namely females with young, which led to a predictable increase in conflicts/complaints in 2025 with dispersing young,” the department wrote in its annual report.
The 125 responses FWP made to black bear conflicts/complaints in FWP’s Region 5 management area was a roughly 9% increase over the four-year average of 114, data has only been collected since 2022.
Carbon County leads
Sightings and bear conflicts are concentrated in Carbon County, which includes portions of the Beartooth Mountains.
Carbon County saw the highest number of grizzly bear conflicts/complaints at 39 (71%), with Sweet Grass County second at seven (13%).
“Notably, while livestock depredation events remain well below long-term average (eight in 2025, about 16/year since 2011), conflicts involving unnatural foods, proximity to homes, property damage and human encounters increased drastically in 2025 (about 13/year since 2021, 41 in 2025 not including Region 3 responses),” FWP reported.
Sixty-seven black bear conflicts/complaints were reported in Carbon County in 2025, 54% of the total. The next highest was Stillwater County with 25 reports, 20% of the total.
“However, the proportion of those conflicts/complaints that would be considered elevated conflicts (home/vehicle/structure entry, encounters, property damage, attacks on people) were slightly down from the average (45% in 2025, 50% on average),” FWP wrote.
The reasons for the uptick are several.
“Natural food availability, human development in rural areas, and species expansion onto private land seem to be the primary drivers for increased conflicts,” FWP reported, “with species expansion being more pronounced with grizzly bears.”
Beartooth Mountains
While bear encounters in suburban Red Lodge may be surprising to residents and visitors, the animals’ core habitat is close by — the Beartooth Mountains, which are next door to Yellowstone National Park.
Responding to what it called “severe” conflicts in the Beartooths is complicated due to the area’s remoteness and wilderness protections, FWP said.
Incidents in the mountain range included one report of a hunter defensively shooting at a grizzly in camp at close range, three stolen camps and two reports of bear spray being deployed to deter charging bears.
The young camp-raiding grizzly was removed on Sept. 14 after reports to the Forest Service in late August.
“In consultation with the (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) and (Forest Service), FWP staff flew into the area and lethally removed that bear, as it had become very habituated after accessing unnatural foods,” an FWP spokesperson said.
“Enforcing (Forest Service) food storage orders in this area is extremely challenging with limited Forest Service staff,” FWP wrote. “Finding unique and proactive ways to educate users in an area with increasing public bear activity will be paramount.”
The Billings-area staff also responded to six reports in the Cooke City/Silver Gate communities in 2025, near the Northeast Entrance to Yellowstone National Park. In one incident the agency trapped a food-conditioned grizzly from the Cooke City area. Another “lethal removal” involved a food-conditioned grizzly that was “free-shot” in the Beartooths.
Seven black bears were killed by FWP with another two killed in “defense of life and/or property” incidents. Nine other black bear deaths and one grizzly were simply listed as “other mortalities.”
Seventy-three grizzly bear were killed in 2025 and 2024 in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, according to the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team’s data, tied with last year for the highest in the past 10 years.
The grizzly bear population in the region is estimated at about 1,100 animals.
