Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks reported this week another grizzly mortality in northwest Montana due to a case of mistaken identity by a black bear hunter.
Lawrence Lefebvre of Bigfork was fined $135 and sentenced to six months in jail, which was suspended, for killing a grizzly on Crane Mountain near the upper east shore of Flathead Lake on Oct. 25.
It was the 11th known man-caused grizzly death this year in the Northern Continental Divide ecosystem, a 6-million-acre swath of country running roughly from the Canadian border to Montana Highway 200, and from Kalispell to Choteau.
“It's not that hard to make the mistake,” said John Fraley, Region 1 information and education manager for Fish, Wildlife and Parks. “Depending on light conditions and the coloring of the bear, mistakes can be made. That's why we encourage people to study the characteristics of grizzlies and it's why, above all, they shouldn't pull the trigger if there's any question.”
Lefebvre, who appeared in District Court in Polson, faced a maximum fine of $2,000, plus $2,000 in restitution, in addition to six months in jail. Warden Capt. Lee Anderson commended Lefebvre for doing everything correctly once he realized he had shot a grizzly instead of a black bear, but also cautioned hunters.
“If you aren't absolutely sure,” Anderson said, “don't shoot.”
It was the second known case of mistaken identity leading to a grizzly's death this year, double the average. The first happened in April during spring black bear season.
The causes of two more grizzly deaths are unknown, but also believed to be the result of illegal shootings, according to Fraley.
Another was killed recently in self-defense on Marias Pass, one more was killed in a vehicle collision in the Swan Valley, while bear managers took out another on the Eastern Front of the Rocky Mountains in a cattle depredation case.
Two more grizzlies that had been removed to the Cabinet-Yaak recovery zone and were killed there are also contained in the total of 11 man-caused losses of grizzlies in the Northern Continental Divide ecosystem. One of those bears was rummaging in a garbage can when it was shot by a homeowner; the other died when it was hit by a Montana Rail Link train.
“Those are just examples of the man-caused deaths,” Fraley said. “There have been several natural ones as well.”
The Northern Continental Divide ecosystem, one of six grizzly bear recovery zones in the Lower 48 states, is considered to have perhaps the best potential for long-term survival of the threatened species.
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