A sub-adult male black bear was captured and relocated from Gillette on the morning of Aug. 18, 2026.

At approximately 5 a.m., Wyoming Game and Fish Department game wardens responded to a report of a small bear near Buffalo Ridge Elementary at the southern edge of Gillette. The bear was found a short time later and successfully immobilized.  Wildlife managers are relocating the bear to a remote area in suitable bear habitat. 

Game and Fish personnel had responded to another report of the bear on the evening of Aug. 17, approximately four miles outside of town. A game warden hazed the bear, but it had returned this morning. There are no reports of the bear receiving human-provided food rewards or other conflicts.

Members of the Gillette Police Department, the Campbell County Sheriff’s Office and Wyoming Highway Patrol assisted in responding to the report and locating the bear.

Due to ongoing drought conditions and a reduction in natural food sources, black bears in northeast Wyoming are traveling widely in search of resources. 

Any sightings of a bear in residential or developed areas should be reported as soon as possible to local Game and Fish personnel, the Game and Fish Regional Office at 307-672-7418 during regular business hours, to the Stop Poaching Hotline at 877-WGFD-TIP or to a local law enforcement agency. Quick reporting by the public allows wildlife managers more management options.

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