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All Attacks Articles
Despite recent high-profile attacks by grizzly bears in the Yellowstone area that have killed two people and left two others seriously injured, wildlife officials say human-bear encounters are not on the upswing, and that such events remain "very, very rare."
The most recent attacks occurred last week at a Gallatin National Forest campground east of Cooke City, Mont., near the northeastern corner of Yellowstone National Park (Land Letter, July 29).
BILLINGS — A grizzly bear that preyed on three campers outside Yellowstone National Park was underweight but not starving, and it was in an area with ample natural food supplies, wildlife officials said Monday as they worked to figure out why the animal attacked.
With the necropsy on the female grizzly still being analyzed, officials had no explanation for what caused the bear to rampage through a campground Wednesday with cubs in tow.
Wildlife officials have killed a grizzly bear in Wyoming and a grizzly bear in Montana to head-off potential lawsuits.
The Montana grizzly killed and partially consumed Kevin Kammer at a Gallatin National Forest campground near Cooke City , Mont. on July 29. The Wyoming grizzly killed 70 year-old botanist Erwin Evert on June 17 on the Shoshone National Forest near the East Entrance of Yellowstone National Park.
COOKE CITY, Mont. — At least one bear rampaged through a heavily occupied campground Wednesday near Yellowstone National Park in the middle of the night, killing one person and injuring two others during a terrifying attack that forced people to hide in their cars as an animal tore through tents.
Authorities said three separate attacks left a male dead and a woman and another male injured at the Soda Butte campground. The woman suffered severe lacerations and crushed bones from bites on her arms, and the surviving male was bitten on his calf.
A 57-year-old Sooke man said he woke up Wednesday morning and found himself nose to nose with a young black bear, which lunged at him and flipped him “like a pancake.”
And Jay Vinden said it was thanks to his friend, Bruce Doyle, 47, that he survived the attack, which took place during a camping trip in a remote area near Port Alberni.
An investigation into the death of a 70-year-old hiker who was mauled by a grizzly bear near Yellowstone National Park last month provides some important insight into what happened and how future attacks may be avoided.
While the death was a tragic accident, the report by the investigation team recommends some changes in policy by the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team that make sense.
We started in Hope and were six miles in on the Resurrection Pass Trail. Kimi was in front with Kobi right behind her, followed by Kyle and myself. We were rounding a corner, and as I looked up Kimi was heading back our way. Ahead of us on the trail were a grizzly bear mama and her two cubs.
Mama started to charge us, and as she was running at us Kobi charged her, barking and growling up a storm. The bear stopped charging and was growling at Kobi, who was holding his ground several feet away. After a few seconds the bear went after Kobi, and he bolted around her and into the bushes, heading away from us. Mama chased, which gave us a few extra seconds of getaway time.
GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK — A new six-minute video podcast developed by Great Smoky Mountains Association informs viewers about hiking safety and wildlife behavior, particularly black bears.
To view the podcast, visit http://thegreatsmokymountains.org/hike_smokies_challenge
A man recovers tonight after being mauled by a black bear at the Red River Gorge. Wildlife officials say Tim Scott of Springfield was walking on a trail near the Wolfe and Menifee County line around 2:30 p.m. Sunday when a black bear attacked him. Another hiker heard his shouts for help and threw a day pack at the bear--distracting it--allowing Scott to get away. Now, the search is on for that bear.
Montana wildlife officials say game wardens have killed a black bear that injured a man when it bit through his tent at a primitive campsite in the Lolo National Forest in the western part of the state.
MISSOULA, Mont. — Montana wildlife officials say game wardens have killed a black bear that injured a man when it bit through his tent at a primitive campsite in the Lolo National Forest in the western part of the state.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - The bearded, sandy-haired geologist was on a job in the remote Alaska wilderness when a grizzly bear suddenly emerged from the brush just yards away. So Robert Miller did what he was trained to do - he fell to the ground, clasped his hands around his neck to protect it and played dead. The bear wandered away and Miller thought he was in the clear. Pulling himself to his knees, he found out how wrong he was.
Some guys have all the luck.
And then there's Rick Oliver, who might be one of the unluckiest men in the state, if not the world.
Oliver was mauled by a bear in his otherwise peaceful front yard a few weeks ago.
"It was like getting struck by lightning," he said.
Turns out, Oliver might be one of the few people in the world capable of accurately making the bear-lightning analogy.
The Ministry of Natural Resources has made regulatory changes so that field workers flown to remote locations can carry bear spray following a hair-raising attack on a biologist two years ago.
But while carrying bear spray is recommended, it isn't mandatory and workers could still end up in the deep bush without any means to defend themselves in a rare encounter with a predatory bruin.
CODY, Wyo. - Federal wildlife officials have tracked down and killed a grizzly bear suspected of fatally mauling a man outside Yellowstone National Park.
Chris Servheen, grizzly bear coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said the bear was found Saturday by trackers following a signal from a radio collar that had been placed around the bear's neck.
Researchers in the area had trapped and released a bear earlier in the day.
CODY - Authorities are investigating the circumstances surrounding the fatal mauling by a grizzly bear Thursday of a Shoshone National Forest cabin owner. The incident occurred at a site where a bear had been captured and released earlier that day.
(Newser) - An Alaskan cyclist survived a grizzly bear attack with just minor injuries after playing dead. The pharmacist was riding his bike to work along a trail in an Anchorage park when he surprised a bear, who charged him. He played dead while the bear-a mother with her cub-swatted him and bit him once, leaving him with a torn ear and lacerations to his calf, the Anchorage Daily News reports.
A Creston Valley man has bruises and stitch marks to prove how lucky he was last month. The unidentified male was attacked by a female grizzly bear on a Kootenay River dike on the Creston flats on May 21.
"He lives nearby and rides his bike on the dikes early in the morning," Creston conservation officer Arnold Deboon said on Friday. "He heard a rush of noise coming from behind and looked back to see a grizzly charging at him."
OTTAWA - Forget the black flies.
It's the black bears that are on the minds of summit organizers as Ottawa gears up for the G8 summit in Ontario's cottage country at the end of the month.
The bear density in the area around the Huntsville summit is about one animal for every three square kilometres.
Although black bears don't usually attack people, there have been reports of at least one, if not two, altercations in the past few weeks.
A 23-year-old Montana man who was mauled after he smoked marijuana and entered a pen to feed a grizzly bear at Great Bear Adventures park where he worked was awarded workers' compensation benefits, reports the Flathead Beacon.
Brock Hopkins sustained serious injuries, including a dislocated kneecap and $70,000 in medical expenses when he was attacked by the bear in 2007. He is lucky to be alive.
ISLAND PARK - Just in time for summer sun and outdoor adventures here and in other areas of Greater Yellowstone, the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee (IGBC) has released bear avoidance and wildlife stewardship materials emphasizing bear safety techniques that can also be applied to other wildlife.
The Center for Wildlife Information (CWI), a non-profit organization headed by Chuck Bartlebaugh, coordinated the development of educational materials for the IGBC and their partners, which include state wildlife management agencies in Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and Washington, the Forest Service, Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and the USGS Research.
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