FWP Launches Online Dashboard to Track Grizzly Bear Deaths

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks has introduced a new online dashboard to provide transparent tracking of grizzly bear mortalities across the state. The tool comes at a critical time as wildlife managers anticipate a decision that could remove Endangered Species Act protections for grizzly bears.

The dashboard, released at the end of September, provides daily updates on grizzly bear deaths, including crucial details such as date, location, sex and cause of mortality. It does not include deaths on lands managed by Native American tribes.

This year is proving to be particularly deadly for grizzlies in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. According to the Montana dashboard and data from Frank van Manen, supervisory research wildlife biologist for the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team, 71 grizzly bear mortalities have already been confirmed in the GYE this year, compared to 46 in 2022 and 49 in 2023. Of those 71 deaths, 29 were confirmed in Montana.

This data arrives amid growing scrutiny of wildlife management practices, including a recent federal court ruling on November 7 that found Wildlife Services violated environmental policy in its approach to managing problem bears.

Van Manen told Mountain Journal in an email that the most common cause of death in 2024 for grizzlies in Greater Yellowstone has been removals associated with livestock depredations and mortalities resulting from circumstances related to human self-defense. He said grizzly bear mortalities fluctuate from year to year, and that the last few have been relatively low so he isn’t surprised numbers are higher this year. He also noted the difference between data within the demographic monitoring area—defined in part by suitable grizzly habitat and includes Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks and surrounding national forests—and outside of those boundaries, where mortality risks are higher.

“Within the DMA, we documented 43 mortalities in 2024, which is below the years of 2015, 2017, 2018,” he wrote. “Counts of the cause of mortality for 2024 are within one or two mortalities of the 10-year average for all categories, except for cattle depredation, which is twice the 10-year average. Livestock-related mortalities were at the 10-year average in 2023 and half the 10-year average in 2022, reflecting that these [types] of conflicts are somewhat cyclic.”

Van Manen explained that targeted removal of depredating bears can be a very effective technique to reduce livestock conflicts for several years after removal. Conflicts may rise again as other bears move in over time. “This year looks like one of those years,” he wrote.

In a statement announcing the Montana dashboard, FWP Chief of Conservation Policy Quentin Kujala wrote: “Tracking grizzly bear mortality is a key metric when we look at bear management. The dashboard allows us to be transparent with the public on what kinds of mortality we’re seeing and what the causes are. It will also help reinforce our consistent message of securing attractants and being bear aware to avoid conflicts.”

Montana wildlife agencies are preparing for a decision from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on ESA protections for grizzlies, which USFS expects to announce in January 2025. In August, Mountain Journal spoke with Executive Director of Wyoming Wildlife Advocates’ Kristin Combs about the decision delay and potential delisting.