A wayward grizzly bear sheltered at the Montana Wildlife Center in Helena is bound for a new home at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs.

The 2-year-old, 300-pound bruin, described as a "one-way bear" with no chance at being released into the wild, arrived at the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks shelter in Helena last August after bluff-charging a man and killing a goat near Eureka.

The bear faced euthanization if center manger Patti Sowka couldn't find a zoo with an opening for a grizzly. Lucky for him, she found room in Colorado, where a new Rocky Mountain wildlife exhibit is under construction.

"Our bear bluff-charged a man and killed a goat," Sowka said. "The decision was made to euthanize him or place him into captivity. It took me until December to find him a home. I was afraid we'd have to put him down."

The bear had a restless Helena winter, Sowka said. While the animal slept off and on, it didn't fully hibernate. Now the bear is fully awake, although Sowka said he's still a little sluggish.

The grizzly hammed it up on Wednesday, sporting its 3-inch-long claws, long teeth and brown eyes full of emotion. It released a resonant grunt when Sowka dropped grapes into the enclosure. The bear then showed his dexterity, plucking the grapes one by one from the vine.

"He's such a show-off," Sowka said. "He just loves the attention."

As if on cue, the bear rolled over on his back, bellowed, and scratched his big round belly, lip curled out in a bear-like grin.

Finding a zoo that can take a grizzly bear isn't easy, Sowka said. The bears can live around 30 years, especially when they find a comfortable life with plenty to eat and no pressure to find a mate.

"Bears do surprisingly well in captivity," Sowka said. "But they need more mental stimulation."

Caretakers at the Helena center hide peanuts throughout the bear's enclosure and float apples in its water tank, providing the animal mental and physical stimulation.

A crate serves as a good puzzle and the deer carcasses keep the bear's teeth sharp, not to mention they make for a tasty, albeit rotten snack.

The carcasses hang over the pond and the flies buzz thickly. The bear looks right at home, rollicking on its back and groaning, not bothered by the flies or the smell of rotting flesh.

Mike Madel, a bear biologist with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, wasn't available for comment Wednesday.

But Sowka believes the bear was one of two siblings that were separated from their mother during an effort to trap and collar the mother bear as part of a migration study.

One of the cubs was inadvertently caught in the trap. While the mother tried to free the cub, she couldn't, and the stress sent her running from the area.

"The cub was old enough to survive on its own, but it was too young to learn anything," Sowka said. "The bear followed its nose. It got in trouble and was captured and released, but it didn't work."

Members of the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo will arrive in Helena in the next few weeks to take the bear to Colorado. While the zoo didn't return calls Wednesday, its Web site described its multi-million-dollar wildlife addition.

The new enclosure, dubbed Rocky Mountain Wild, will connect zoo visitors with the wild heritage of Colorado and the Rocky Mountains.

State-of-the-art exhibit space is being built for moose, mountain lions, river otters, lynx, bald eagles, and grizzly bears.

Reporter Martin Kidston can be reached at 447-4086, or at mkidston@helenair.com