Black Bear Looks for Food Near Campers, Deputy Shoots Bear

Black Bear Looks for Food Near Campers, Deputy Shoots Bear

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By KFBB News Team

Story Published: Jul 21, 2009 at 6:25 PM MDT

Story Updated: Jul 21, 2009 at 6:25 PM MDT

A black bear breaks into a campground near Townsend, and it's all caught on camera.

This all began on Sunday behind an RV park near Highway 12. That's when a young black bear broke into a trash bin in search of food. The 100-pound bruin had peeled back the plastic cover of the metal bin and was going through the contents of a garbage bag.

Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks officials say people tried to haze the bear back toward the Elkhorn Mountain Range, but the animal was adamant in its search for food. That's when a Broadwater County sheriff's deputy shot the bear. He fatally shot the bear twice with a shotgun.

FWP officials say that the bear had an ear tag, which means it had already been attended to by FWP. The bruin also was not scared of a large group of people who gathered near the trash bin to watch.

Wednesday, Jul 22 at 3:41 PM Sarah wrote ...

I agree, why shoot it. It may not be scared of crowds but it wasn't aggressive either. Way to go Deputy Sheriff

Wednesday, Jul 22 at 5:52 AM lodi dodi wrote ...

I dont understand why they shot it...I thought there was such things as tranqualizer guns but I guess not. Way to go on the target practice dep keep em' coming.

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