A new state website allows hunters of black bears to test their bear species identification skills.
The state Department of Fish and Wildlife’s program, available at wdfw.wa.gov/hunting/bear_cougar/bear, includes information on how to correctly identify black bears and grizzly bears, and gives hunters a chance to test their identification skills.
Grizzly bears are protected under state and federal endangered species laws. Black bears are classified as a game species.
The test was designed to help black bear hunters be sure of their targets, said Dana Base, a northeast district wildlife biologist.
Hunting season for black bear opened Sept. 1 in several areas of the state, including the northeast district, where hunters sometimes encounter grizzly bears.
Up to 50 grizzlies are estimated to roam the Selkirk Mountains of northeast Washington, north Idaho and southeastern British Columbia. Less than a dozen are believed to roam the North Cascades of northcentral Washington and southcentral British Columbia.
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