Center's attraction is a grizzly one

SANDPOINT — The Lehman Wildlife Education Center has a new resident on display — and he took a long time in arriving.

After months of laboring through paperwork and processing, the managers of the Bonner County Fairgrounds education center have a new grizzly bear on display. According to Bonner County Sportsmen’s Association member Don Banning, he and his fellow Lehman Wildlife Education Center managers anticipate the new display will be the star of the Bonner County Fair starting Aug. 20.  

A donation from the British Columbia Conservation Officer Service in Canada, the mounted grizzly is owned by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, which loaned the bear out to the Lehman Wildlife Education Center. As a protected species in the United States, stuffed grizzlies can only be owned by the appropriate government entities.

The education center’s new star attraction earned his international trip after behaving rather badly in central British Columbia. According to Banning, the bear was harassing ranchers in the region to the point where the government had to intervene.

“He kept going after cattle, so they had to put him down,” Banning said.

When discovery center managers learned a grizzly was available, they worked with Idaho Fish and Game officers to arrange delivery of the animal.  British Columbia officials donated the animal, requiring only that their Idaho colleagues pay for the skinning process.

The skin and skull were then frozen and transported over the border, where officials had the remains transported to John Thomas of Thomas Taxidermy in Naples. Thomas donated all his labor to the taxidermy process, which amounted to a $3,000 contribution, Banning said.

From beginning to end, the entire process of importing and preparing the bear took about a year and a half. However, Banning said the opportunity was rare enough that it was worth pursuing. Because grizzlies are highly protected in the United States, opportunities to acquire one for display are rare and typically only spring up from Canadian sources.

“The only way you can get one here (in the United States) is if you have one killed on a depredation permit and there aren’t any Indian tribes that want it — they have first rights,” Banning said.

The grizzly should prove a valuable education tool for the many school field trips and independent visits to the center. Because the center also has a black bear on display, visitors will receive a valuable lesson in differentiating between the two species.

The best time to see the grizzly will likely be to drop by the Lehman Wildlife Education Center while visiting the Bonner County Fair. According to Banning, it’s one of their busiest times of the year — and visitors always bring along plenty of enthusiasm.

“A lot of times the place is full right up until we’re closing,” Banning said.