Grizzly bear known as 'Scarface' killed by hunter last fall

BOZEMAN, Mont. (AP) _ Montana wildlife officials have confirmed that a grizzly bear known as ``Scarface'' to some Yellowstone National Park biologists and visitors was shot and killed during a confrontation with a hunter north of Gardiner last fall.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is investigating because grizzly bears are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

Scarface, or grizzly No. 211, was 25 years old and weighed 338 pounds. Yellowstone bear management biologist Kerry Gunther says in its prime the bear weighed nearly 600 pounds. No. 211 was captured by researchers 17 times over the years.

Wildlife watchers and photographers have posted pictures of the bear online, nicknaming it Scarface for the marks on the right side of its face. Researchers first noticed the scars in 2000, when the bear was 11.