RONAN – An orphaned Mission Valley grizzly bear cub has been euthanized after a home could not be found for the animal.
The cub’s mother and sibling died after being hit by a vehicle along US Highway 93 North near Ronan on July 27th. The male cub was caught the next day.
Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes Natural Resources Department spokeswoman Germaine White notes that orphan cubs are unable to survive without their mother and are typically captured and held temporarily at the Montana Wild Rehabilitation Center until a suitable long-term facility can be found.
However, the Helena facility did not have room to take in the cub. White says Tribal Bear Biologists worked with the US Fish & Wildlife Service and Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks to try and find a certified grizzly bear facility.
However, after 11 days no certified facility was found for the cub so on August 8th the animal was euthanized.
“We had hoped to find a facility to take the grizzly bear cub, but sadly, there are none available at this time and the cub would not have survived back in the wild without its mother," said CSKT Bear Biologist Stacy Courville.
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