Page 35 - Wyoming's Grizzly Harvest - The Story the State Wants to Bury with the Bears

Wyoming’s Grizzly Harvest concerned woman after she had been permitted to inspect the dead grizzly, a sentiment reflected by another local denizen as Ellsbury prepared for his date with Judge Waters. “It was so big and just beautiful,” was how this Eagle Nest subdivision homeowner described the 287-pound, five-year- old grizzly Ellsbury trapped October 7, 2014. “He was just gorgeous.” The grizzly, said Ellsbury, was “on his way to Jackson.” A grizzly that had recently been hauled from Jackson to Cody would soon discover it was a road to nowhere. “That bear on Monday,” began Dan Thompson, in his explanation for why WGFD decided to “remove” the first of two grizzlies from the environs of Clark, Wyoming the week beginning October 27, “was fairly habituated to people. It had been relocated twice and was prone to go where people are,” he said. These were, he suggested, “unfortunate circumstances for the bear.” Very unfortunate, in fact, for the bear, as it too was trapped by Ellsbury and killed October 27. The bear was grizzly bear 760, a sub-adult male offspring of grizzly bear 610, herself the progeny of the most famous Grand Teton National Park bear, grizzly 399. Until 760’s death, this trio of grizzlies had generated millions of dollars for Grand Teton gateway communities, and by exposure to 35