We need our top predators. This is great news!

SPOKANE, Wash. -- Wildlife biologists have captured a female grizzly bear in Washington State for the first time in forty years, fitting it with a radio collar so they can track its movements, officials said Thursday.

The grizzly, along with her three cubs, were released to help biologists learn more about the endangered animals, the state Department of ten and Wildlife said. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologists captured the bear about ten miles from the Washington-Idaho state line on U.S. Forest Service land.

The three cubs ran into the surrounding woods while biologists did a general health check on the mother and fitted her collar, then returned to her when the people went away, the state agency said.

“Grizzly bears once occupied much of the Cascade and Selkirk Ranges, but their numbers were severely reduced as a result of hunting by early settlers and habitat degradation," said Rich Beausoleil, a biologist with the state. "Grizzly bear recovery started in 1981 and it took forty years to confirm the first known female in Washington.”

Biologists became aware of the bear through images captured on cameras inside the Selkirk Grizzly Bear Recovery Zone in a remote area of the Selkirk Mountains. That is one of six recovery zones in the U.S. identified by the federal recovery plan for grizzlies.

Grizzlies in that area roam between northern Idaho, northeastern Washington, and southeastern British Columbia. The population there is considered healthy, and is growing about three percent a year, officials said.

[abcnews.go.com]