Following a few consecutive years of huckleberry bumper crops, officials say this summer’s yield in northwest Montana is lackluster.
Huckleberries are a calorie-dense food that grizzlies and black bears depend on.
“And that's bringing them into these lower elevation areas where they're more likely to experience conflicts with humans,” says Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks spokesperson Malia Freeman.
She says resourceful and food-motivated bears are actively seeking alternative food sources. Those include garbage, bird feeders and fruit trees.
Freeman says bear specialists are responding to an unusually high number of bear conflict calls this summer.
“The specialists are expecting that that call volume is just going to continue to increase as we get closer to fall.”
That’s because bears need extra calories to prepare for winter.
To reduce the risk of bear conflicts, Montanans are urged to store garbage in bear‑resistant containers, temporarily remove bird feeders, and protect backyard livestock like chickens with electric fencing.
While huckleberries are scarce in some places, some productive patches remain. FWP cautions that bears may be particularly protective of those spots. People are urged to watch for signs of bear activity, make noise to avoid surprising them, and to not only carry bear spray but know how to use it.
