The Game and Fish Department continues to search for a grizzly bear with a steel trap caught on its right foot. Someone photographed the bear walking near the Bridger-Teton Forest on May 31.
The day after the blurry photograph was taken, someone alerted the Game and Fish Department of the injured bear. Dan Thompson, large carnivore section supervisor at the Department, said they quickly jumped into action.
"Since then, we’ve been monitoring on a daily base both on the ground and with some flights . . . I flew over the area directly last week,” Thompson said.
He added the Department has yet to spot the bear - but once they do, officials will capture it and remove the trap. Thompson said there’s regulation in place to prevent illegal trappings like this, but that can only go so far.
“There’s nothing 100% in the world that we have to deal with, but we do everything that we can on the ground to reduce the likelihood of this occurring,” Thompson said.
It’s not legal to catch a grizzly bear at all, let alone with this kind of steel trap. Thompson said it was likely placed by an individual. He said instances like this are extremely rare. Wyoming Game and Fish has never captured a bear with a trap on its foot.
