Could grizzly bears cross Utah’s border soon? Experts are not ruling it out

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — Are grizzly bears crossing Utah’s border again? Well, after 100 years, state wildlife experts believe it’s now on the table.

The last known grizzly bear in Utah was named “Old Ephraim”, and he was killed in 1923. But now, as grizzly bears have been spotted in Southwest Wyoming and are inching closer to Bear Lake, it brings the question of whether they may be finding their way to Utah again soon.

“The closest I’m aware of, it was about 30 miles, and again, that’s not where grizzly bears are living, but that’s sort of the closest that one’s been recorded as they move around the greater Yellowstone,” DWR Game Mammals Program Coordinator Darren Debloois said.

The state wildlife department says it’s because of conservation efforts. Grizzly bears are on the federal threatened species list. Fifty years ago, grizzly bear populations dropped to around 700 nationwide. 

Now there are nearly 2,000 —- and that could spill into Utah.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if we got one on a camera or something like that … They have been close, and so it wouldn’t be super surprising,” Debloois said.

In Wyoming, they are more skeptical that Utahns may be seeing grizzly bears soon.

“That bear that was seen just north of Kemmerer, there’s still that potential that a bear will end up in the Southern Wyoming range, but the likelihood of one going to Utah is pretty low. But, it is a very interesting dynamic to see these bears continuing to disperse into places they haven’t been in a long time,” Large Carnivore Section Supervisor for Wyoming Game and Fish, Dan Thompson, said.