A man who killed a federally-protected grizzly bear just outside of Yellowstone National Park is being charged with a misdemeanor.
The hunter shot a 530-pound grizzly around 14 miles outside the park, near the North Fork Highway, on May 1. The hunter said he had misidentified the animal as a black bear.
Black bear season in Wyoming started on May 1, allowing hunters to kill black bears in certain areas, with a limit of one bear per license, and one license per person per year. Grizzlies, on the other hand, are federally protected under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), and killing them can come with a fine of up to $50,000, the loss of a hunting license, or even jail time.
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Black bears are the most common species of bear in North America, with there being an estimated 339,000 and 465,000 individuals across the U.S. Grizzly bears are less common, with around 60,000 grizzlies living across North America, 30,000 of which are found in Alaska, and only a few thousand living in the northernmost contiguous U.S. states. Male grizzly bears can grow to 700 pounds, with there only being around 1,000 grizzly bears in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem, as of 2021.
Court documents obtained by local news site, the Powell Tribune, revealed that the hunter was named Patrick Gogerty, who had come forwards to the Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD) on May 2, the day after he shot the bear. By that point, however, members of the public had already contacted the WGFD about the bear’s carcass, leading to an investigation as to the cause of its death.
Gogerty reportedly shot at the bear seven times, four of which hit the animal, according to a WGFD necropsy of the body. After approaching the bear, Gogerty told North Cody Game Warden Travis Crane that he realized it was a grizzly, but only after examining its claws, pads, and head.
“Gogerty felt confident it was a black bear as he could not see a hump on its back,” wrote Crane in a court affidavit, as reported by the Powell Tribune.”[He] should have turned himself in immediately.”
Grizzlies and black bears can appear very similar, as despite their name, black bears can often appear brown.
“When you’re hunting in areas where there’s grizzly bears and black bears, it’s a little more challenging,” Cody Wildlife Supervisor Dan Smith told the Powell Tribune. “Black bears can come in many colors. They’re called black bears, but they can come in many colors, including browns that look like grizzly bears. And grizzly bears also can come in different shades. And so they can be darker, like what you would typically think of a black bear or lighter.”
Gogerty is being charged with the misdemeanor of “taking a trophy game animal without the proper license or authority,” which was issued by Park County prosecuting attorney Bryan Skoric on May 11. He is due to appear in court to enter a plea on Friday.
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