A Montana rancher shot at and killed one of two grizzly bears that were attacking his livestock. One died, and the other bear ran off. Rick Christy of Fairfield saw the bears attacking his sheep in May, they were 150 feet away from his house, and at one point only 10 feet away from Christy himself. Christy used his .308 caliber rifle and killed one. Christy lost 9 sheep from the bear attacks, a loss estimated at $2000.

Christy is now being fined by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife. It is illegal to kill an endangered animal unless it is in self defense. According to Montana law, it is legal to kill a predator, if one is protecting their livestock. Christy's fine is $2,000 for violating the endangered species act, a misdemeanor violation. From Greatfallstribune.com [2].