FWP explains headless, pawless grizzly bear carcass found in Yellowstone River

After a grizzly bear is euthanized, where does its body go? Is it thrown away, or returned to the land it came from?

Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks (FWP) officials say it depends on the circumstances.

Early Monday morning, a photo of a headless, pawless grizzly bear was captured by a river guide on the Yellowstone River near Gardiner. The photo upset many who saw it.

Trisha McFarland

"Fish, Wildlife and Parks is aware of this grizzly in the Yellowstone River. This is the same bear that was removed after several weeks of conflict in Gardiner ," FWP spokesman Morgan Jacobsen said.

Jacobsen says it was a capture effort that lasted several weeks after a food-motivated bear was continually attracted to the area.

"On Thursday the bear had broken into a home. Fish, Wildlife and Park staff responded and was able to dispatch the bear while it was in the river," he says.

According to Jacobsen, the bear was euthanized in the river because it provided a safe opportunity to kill the animal away from other people.

"Following that it took some time to find that bear carcass. It was taken a ways downstream in the river," Jacobsen says.

By the time FWP was able to locate the carcass, Jacobsen says it was in an area that prevented it from being recovered.

But many are asking why the bear was left in the condition it was, with the head and paws removed.

"Something that we are required to do as an agency by the US Fish, Wildlife and Parks Service, is to remove any parts of that bear that had potential monetary value — so that includes the head and the paws," Jacobsen says.

Jacobson adds that carcasses on the landscape are common, even in our rivers, and that it doesn’t currently pose a threat of contamination.

He says it’s unfortunate the grizzly had to be euthanized but reminds us that circumstances like this are preventable.

"Make sure that we’re not providing opportunities for animals to become food conditioned and habituated to find food where people are," Jacobsen says.