Wildlife Conservation and Management

To protect public safety and private property Fish and Game had to euthanize a juvenile black bear on Monday August 3 that had become food-conditioned to residential garbage, bird feed, and honey from beehives. Reports of a bear getting into residential garbage in the East Fork area had been received by Fish and Game for the last several weeks.

Fish and Game staff in the Magic Valley Region continue to work with local agricultural producers in an effort to reduce agriculture crop damages caused by big game.

     

Recent reports of black bears and mountain lions along trails in the Wood River Valley are a good reminder that no matter the season, wildlife lives nearby. No negative interactions with any wildlife has occurred, but residents are cautioned to be alert and aware of their surroundings when outside.

Over the last five or more years, farms throughout the Magic Valley Region have seen an increase in crop damages caused by ever-increasing elk populations that sometimes reside almost exclusively on private land. Fish and Game has worked cooperatively with landowners to find ways to prevent or reduce the damage to their crops, thereby reducing depredation claims for compensation.

After a relatively mild winter, statewide survival of radio-collared mule deer fawns and elk calves was above average through the end of May, the final month of Fish and Game’s monitoring period. Statewide, 73 percent of radio-collared elk calves and 63 percent of mule deer fawns survived through the winter.

Over the last weekend of May, local Fish and Game officials were kept busy when two yearling moose, one in Twin Falls and the other in Heyburn were found roaming in city neighborhoods. Local residents began reporting moose to area law enforcement, who worked alongside Fish and Game to locate and secure the areas to ensure public safety.