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In May a man shot a 530-pound grizzly bear just outside Yellowstone National Park, saying he mistook it for a black bear.

Currently, neither Wyoming nor Idaho requires an identification course or exam. The groups are asking each state to require an identification course to reduce inadvertent grizzly bear deaths.

“The loss of even a single grizzly bear is a tragedy to the recovery of the species as there are fewer than 2,000 bears that occupy a tiny fraction of their historic territory in the lower 48 states,” said Kristin Combs of Wyoming Wildlife Advocates. “If there is something else that can be done to prevent further mortalities of grizzlies, the agencies have an obligation to do so.”

From 2010 to 2022, the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team identified 14 grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone region that were killed because of mistaken identity, but a total of 113 mortalities remain “under investigation.” Detailed information on these mortalities is not available to the public and the occurrence of grizzly bears being killed by black bear hunters is likely higher than reported.

“Requiring hunters to take an identification course could help with the protection and recovery of grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem,” said Kristine Akland, Northern Rockies director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “For now it’s illegal to kill grizzly bears except in self-defense. But I’m deeply concerned by Wyoming’s petition to remove federal protections from grizzly bears in the Yellowstone area and near Glacier National Park.”

“All states in grizzly bear country should mandate that hunters take a bear identification course regularly,” said Bonnie Rice, national wildlife campaign manager for the Sierra Club. “The vast majority of grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem die from human-related causes. Hunters have a responsibility to be able to properly identify their target at all times before taking that shot, just as states have a responsibility to protect threatened species.”

Montana has a mandatory bear identification course and hunters must pass a test with a score of 80% or higher to receive a black bear hunting license. In contrast, hunters in Idaho and Wyoming can hunt black bears with no knowledge of the differences between black bears and federally protected grizzly bears. States should take all steps in their power to prevent grizzly bear killings, including mandatory bear identification testing for hunters.

“As highly intelligent and a true symbol of the wilderness, grizzly bears need strong protections if they are to survive in the West,” said Wendy Keefover, senior strategist for carnivore protection at the Humane Society of the United States. “The inability of hunters to correctly identify protected grizzly bears has been a deeply troubling and ongoing issue, and one that will only continue to result in dead bears if Wyoming and Idaho don’t require hunter education.”

“All hunters are responsible for knowing their target, but wildlife managers have a heightened obligation when they allow black bear hunting in grizzly country,” said Lizzy Pennock, carnivore coexistence attorney at WildEarth Guardians. “Licensing bear hunters without certifying their ability to differentiate between a grizzly bear and a black bear is simply reckless—Wyoming and Idaho should require this commonsense measure to curtail these senseless deaths.”

Grizzly bear and cub. Photo by Sam Parks.