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A grizzly bear that traveled the Teton River near Loma last summer was captured again on Tuesday morning by state wildlife officials in rural Chouteau County after eating grain and breaking into a chicken coop to dine on two hens.

Wendy Kamm of MT Fish, Wildlife & Parks said, “He pushed the door open early Sunday morning and got into the coop and ate the chickens...when he came back...we captured him.”

FWP officials have decided it will not be released into the wild again.

Kamm says the bear was identified by ear tags as the same bear that was caught last year near Loma after it killed and ate a sheep.

This time the bear was captured along Apple School Road north of the Teton River between Carter and Fort Benton, says Mike Madel, FWP bear management specialist.

Madel explained, “It’s not so much that it killed two chickens. But it was close to human dwellings and entered a building and received a food reward. Also this is its second offense.”

The male grizzly is three and half years old and weighs 320 pounds -- 80 pounds more than last year.

After it was captured last year, the bear was released west of the Continental Divide on the Flathead National Forest and fitted with a radio collar and ear tags. It was last located east of Browning in August. The radio collar was not on the bear when it was recaptured on Tuesday.

This bear is not connected with the twin bears that were seen in June near the Missouri River in the Carter area. That pair of bears were spotted on Tuesday near Choteau.

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