Idaho wildlife officials are asking the public to help find the person who shot and killed a grizzly bear near Island Park, according to a news release from the Idaho Department of Fish and Game.
Officials said an adult female grizzly was found shot dead in Clark County, a rural part of eastern Idaho, on Sept. 2. The news release said the bear was in a drainage near Lower Shotgun Road west of the Island Park Reservoir.
Grizzlies in Idaho are protected by federal and state law. It’s illegal to harm or kill one unless you’re acting in self-defense.
Fish and Game conservation officer Barry Cummings said in the news release that “no detail is too small” to share with the agency.
Anyone with information on the case can contact Fish and Game’s Upper Snake Regional Office at 208-525-7290 or call the Citizens Against Poaching hotline at 1-800-632-5999. Tipsters can also report online at idfg.idaho.gov/poacher .
Two grizzlies have been shot and killed in self-defense incidents near Island Park this year. The area, which neighbors Yellowstone National Park, has Idaho’s highest concentration of grizzly bears.