The grizzly bear threesome ? mother and two cubs, ? who were spotted first in Cranbrook on August 30, 2010 and then in Kimberley at Bootleg Gap Golf Course on September 1, have been spotted again, this time in Meadowbrook.

?As of Thursday, they were spotted in Meadowbrook,? said Conservation Officer Joe Caravetta. ?In the late afternoon we had a Conservation Officer monitoring them and they headed off into the woods.?

Caravetta says they believe the bears are making their way towards the mountains, though finding out they were still in Kimberley was somewhat of a surprise.

?We were surprised to hear they were still in Kimberley. They were gone for a week, there were no sightings and we thought they were headed to the mountains. They must have been feeding in a field somewhere.?

Caravetta says these bears are known to Conservation Officers.

?We are pretty confident they are bears relocated from Elkford earlier this year. They have ear tags, though they are hard to see. They were hanging around Elkford and the biologist wanted them in a Grizzly Enhancement Zone south of Yahk.?

The best guess Caravetta has is that they are trying to get back to their familiar grounds.

?Sometimes relocation works, sometimes it doesn?t,? he said. ?It?s likely the sow is making her way home.?

So far the good news is that the bears are not behaving in an aggressive manner.

?They?ve just been cruising through anywhere they?ve been sighted,? he said. ?They were hanging around feeding on the golf course in Elkford. It was either destroy them or move them.?

?The biologist decided to move them because these bears weren?t aggressive or habituated to garbage so they were a good candidate for a move. They were captured and tranquilized.?

The main goal now, Caravetta says, is to monitor them and try to keep them away from people.

?We have spent numerous man hours on these three bears. But if the sow becomes aggressive we have no choice but to destroy her and the cubs.?

Caravetta says the cubs are two years old and will be kicked out of the den next spring.

What if the family makes its way back to Elkford?

?That?s a good question. What happens if she goes back to Elkford? We?re still working that out. Hopefully she?ll head off and hibernate and the cubs will be gone in the spring. We?ve done everything we can to try to make this work.?

Caravetta says that grizzly bears are not a protected species in this area.

?The population here isn?t threatened so it?s the biologist?s callwhether we relocate or not, but if they become aggressive we have no choice.?

Conservation Officers would like to keep track of the bears. If you see them, please call 1-877-952-7277.