Two bears were found dead Tuesday in the east central section of Yellowstone National Park near Fishing Bridge, the park said in a news release.
A brown adult male grizzly, weighing 576 ½ pounds, was discovered dead about 50 yards off the road one-half mile south of LeHardy Rapids, north of Fishing Bridge. A necropsy to determine its cause of death will be performed in Bozeman.
A second bear, a sub-adult black bear that weighed 79 pounds was found in a ditch next to the road south of Fishing Bridge, about half way between Lake and West Thumb. The park believes this bear was struck and killed by a vehicle sometime Tuesday afternoon, but no one has reported the accident.
According to the park, four black bears have been killed inside Yellowstone this year. Two were killed in motor vehicle accidents and two problem bears were euthanized. Three grizzly bears were killed in the park this year, including one by a motor vehicle, another in a trapping accident and the most recent whose cause of death is still unknown. One grizzly bear was trapped in the park and relocated to Zoo Montana in Billings.
"The Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team this week reported that production of whitebark pine cones is low this year. The seeds from these cones are a favorite fall food of grizzly bears. When these seeds aren't available, grizzlies tend to eat more meat and roots. This shift in diet often results in bears feeding at lower elevations where there is more human activity, increasing the chances of human-bear conflicts and human-caused bear mortalities," the news release states.
The park reminds people that park regulations require people to stay 100 yards from black and grizzly
bears at all times. Visitors are also reminded to keep food, garbage, barbecue grills and other
attractants stored in hard-sided vehicles or bear-proof food storage boxes, which helps keep bears from becoming conditioned to human foods, and helps keep park visitors and their property safe.
The park also encourages hikers and backpackers to travel in groups of three or more, make noise on the trail, and keep an eye out for bears. Bear pepper spray has proven to be a good last line of defense if you keep it handy and use it according to directions when the bear is within 30 to 40 feet.
