Wyoming Game and Fish officials have reported a grizzly bear feeding on a moose carcass in the Snake River Canyon, miles past what is normally considered the southern boundary of occupied grizzly habitat in the region.

Wildlife managers removed the carcass, which was about 30 yards from the road, to keep the bear from getting hit on the highway or acting aggressively toward people. The carcass was about halfway between Hoback Junction and Alpine Junction, officials said.

“It was a pretty bad situation there,” said Mike Boyce, a bear management specialist with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. “The bear was acting fairly agitated towards several motorists who had stopped.”

Boyce said the bear appears to be a juvenile and could be one of several seen in Wilson and the Greys River and the Snake River canyons recently.

“I’ve had a couple of bears that have pushed beyond the south boundary of [Grand Teton National Park],” Boyce said. “For the most part, they are staying out of trouble. They could possibly be recolonizing new areas and expanding their current distribution.”

Boyce said the grizzly bear population is growing and expanding, which could account for the sightings south of Highway 22, normally considered the southern limit of their range. Grizzly bears were also reported near Teton Pass last year.

“A lot of these areas are really suitable bear habitat,” he said. “There is a chance that we’re going to experience more conflicts as they get into these areas where they have not been very abundant in the past several decades.”

A new Teton County ordinance that goes into effect July 1 will require people who live in identified “high priority conflict zones” to store garbage securely and to hang bird feeders out of reach.

Boyce said the ordinance affects all properties north of Highway 22 and north of Broadway in Jackson, excluding the Jackson town limits. The ordinance also includes all Teton County properties on the west side of the Tetons, such as Alta.

So far this spring, there have been no bear-human conflicts in Teton County, Boyce said.

“It’s that time of year when people need to be very cognizant about making their attractants unavailable to bears,” he said. “I’d like to recommend that people take down their bird feeders altogether or hang them [10 feet high and four feet out from any supporting structure].”