In Yellowstone, a grizzly bear attacked a woman: she died

Over the weekend, a bear killed a woman on a trail near West Yellowstone, Montana. Traces of a grizzly bear and cubs were found near the scene, reports NewYorkTimes.

Photo: IStock

The body of the woman, whose identity has not been released, was found July 22 on the Buttermilk Trail, 12 kilometers west of West Yellowstone, a town of about 1200 people. The city is about 1,5 km from Yellowstone National Park. The woman was found to have wounds consistent with a bear attack, authorities said.

Officials from the Custer Gallatin National Forest, which is part of the Yellowstone ecosystem, have announced an emergency closure for areas west of West Yellowstone. They want to address the issue, described in the statement as a "human security issue," which is related to the bear's activity.

The Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks said in a statement on July 24 that a hiker found the woman's body. The woman was believed to have been alone at the time of the bear encounter, and no bear spray or firearms were found at the scene, the department said. Bears were not found.

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On the morning of July 22, the Custer Gallatin National Forest warned on Facebook that the Buttermilk Trail and surrounding areas were closed due to bear activity.

Population expansion and growing danger

Grizzly bears, which are a state-protected brown bear subspecies in all of the lower 48 states under the Endangered Species Act, roam throughout Montana. In recent years, their population has increased throughout the state, and in some cases grizzlies have been sighted in places where they have not been seen for over a century, including the Pryor Mountains, where the species has likely not been seen since the late 1800s.

The expansion "improves long-term prospects for population resilience" for bears, but also "creates new challenges" for Montana residents as the animals could damage property or injure people, the department said.

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Officials have warned visitors to "be careful of bears," which has raised concerns among some residents who report new sightings of the animals.

Grizzlies are larger than black bears, adults reaching over 2,4 m when they stand on their hind legs. The average weight of a grizzly bear is 180 to 230 kg for males and 110 to 160 for females. Bears can run at speeds up to 56 km per hour.

Last month, the Montana Department of Fisheries, Wildlife and Parks released an undated photograph of a grizzly bear standing on its hind legs, its long and curved claws crushing pieces of wood.

The department said this month that a grizzly bear was captured and euthanized after it had "several conflicts with humans" at a reservoir in Flathead County, about 600km northwest of West Yellowstone. According to the department, the male grizzly bear was "trained to eat and to people," which usually means the bears sought or obtained food from humans, destroyed property, or engaged in aggressive behavior towards humans.

However, grizzly bear attacks are extremely rare. Since the founding of Yellowstone National Park in 1872, only eight people have been killed by bears in the park, according to the National Park Service, most recently in 2015. Since 1979, grizzly bears have injured 44 people in the park, which has seen more than 118 million visitors during that time.

“Drowning (125 cases) and burns (after falling into hot springs, 23 cases) killed more people in the park than from the paws of bears,” the service said.

Safety Precautions

However, the danger is real, and officials have offered Montana residents some advice:

• carry and know how to use bear spray;
• travel in groups whenever possible;
• plan to go outside during daylight hours;
• avoid places where crows and other scavengers gather.

Officials are also advising residents to watch for signs of bears, such as uprooted logs and overturned rocks, partially eaten animal carcasses and bear droppings. Visitors to a park or trail should also make noise to alert bears to their presence, especially when approaching streams or walking through dense forest.

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The last piece of advice is simple: "Don't go near the bear."

A meeting of city hall to discuss bears is scheduled for the evening of July 24 in Big Timber, a city of about 1600 people located more than 140 km north of Yellowstone.

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