Glacier National Park officials euthanized an aggressive 4-year-old female black bear that broke into at least one car and a building inside park. The black bear was found to have consistently attempted to enter vehicles and buildings on private property inside the park and was eventually successful in entering at least one building and a vehicle.
The bear was captured in 2022 in Kalispell by Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks and relocated to Puzzle Creek, south of Marias Pass and was seen in the West Glacier area last year. The increase in food-conditioned behavior began in June of 2025.
Glacier National Parks officials are concerned they may have to put down another black bear that got into an unattended backpack and ate some food on the Going-to-the-Sun Road over the weekend. The incident led to a partial closure of the Going-to-the Sun Road.
“Once a bear receives a human food reward, it can become food conditioned. Food rewards can include items such as human food, trash, livestock feed, and pet food. Over time, food conditioned bears may become bold or aggressive in their attempts to obtain human food, as was the case with this bear. Once a bear has become food-conditioned, hazing and aversive conditioning are unlikely to be successful in reversing this type of behavior. Food-conditioned bears are not relocated due to human safety concerns.” -Glacier National Park
Visitors to Glacier National Park can help discourage future food-conditions behaviors in bears by not stopping along roadways in the vicinity of bears, securing all food and garbage, and reporting all bear sightings to the nearest ranger. In the words of Glacier National Park, “it may be cliché, however, more often than not a fed bear is a dead bear.”
