For a decade, Montanans have complained about the
influx of Californians. The trend has reversed, at least for three
grizzlies. A sow and her two 16-month-old cubs had run into trouble
by repeatedly raiding garbage cans and cabins just outside
Yellowstone National Park. Even after land managers relocated the
family, the grizzlies returned to their easy pickings. For the
bears, this translates to a death
sentence.
That’s when townspeople in Big Bear
Lake, Calif., began a fund-raising drive to build a
10,000-square-foot home for the animals at the community-run
Moonridge Animal Park. Zoo curator Don Richardson, who said it’s
been 90 years since the last California grizzly was shot, was
handed the $108,000 needed for the bears’ habitat in just three
months, with some donations coming from as far away as Florida and
New Jersey. The grizzlies’ new quarters, which are tight compared
to wild standards, include a pond and towering Jeffrey
pines.
* Mark Matthews
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Montana grizzlies move west.
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