A young man in Idaho killed a grizzly bear with a pistol, shooting the sow with twelve bullets. Not a terribly unusual incident, but the killing ended with Justin Baum of Ashton, Idaho chalking up a felony conviciton. In his plea deal, Baum was sentenced to three years probation and thirty days in jail for his felony. The bear he shot was wearing a research radio collar, which emitted a mortality signal that alerted authorities in Fremont County. They found the mother bear half submerged in the Little Warm River. Later, deputies located her den and the dead male cub inside, another victim of his senseless killing. Authorities found Baum after subpoenaing Google for records of electronic devices used in the same area as the dead mother. According to the records, Baum was there on March 16, 2021 two days after mother bear was seen leaving her den and cub by a video cam. Authorities offered a $40,000 reward for information about the illegal killing. His father Rex agreed not to talk about the incident.
