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July 30, 2010 in Region
Grizzly bear euthanized after triple mauling
This image provided on Friday July 30, 2010, by the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Department shows a captured grizzly sow believed to be responsible for the mauling death of one camper and injuries to two others near Yellowstone National Park in Montana.
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BILLINGS, Mont. — Wildlife officials euthanized a grizzly bear today after DNA tests determined that the sow and her cubs were responsible for a triple mauling that killed a Michigan man and injured two other campers.
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks said in a statement that hair, saliva and tissue samples tested in a DNA identification lab in Laramie, Wyo., confirmed the adult bear was the same one that rampaged through Soda Butte Campground near Yellowstone National Park early Wednesday.
The sow’s three cubs will be “sent to a zoo as soon as possible,” the statement said.
State officials have asked if ZooMontana is interested in taking the cubs, said Jackie Worstell, executive director of the Billings zoo. Worstell said the zoo would add the cubs to its grizzly exhibit, which already features a Eurasian brown bear and another grizzly from Yellowstone.
Worstell said she doesn’t believe the cubs will have learned the predatory behavior that their mother displayed in the unprovoked attacks at the campground.
“They’re so young and it was a one-time incident,” she said.
A final decision was expected today or Saturday, she said.
Officials will perform an autopsy on the sow to determine if any physical ailments or conditions caused her to attack the campers, said Chris Servheen, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service grizzly bear recovery coordinator.
Grizzly bears that display unprovoked aggressive behavior toward humans, or cause death or substantial human injury, should be removed from the population, under Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee Guidelines, an agreement among eight state and federal agencies, state wildlife officials said.
The sow and two of the three cubs were trapped by Thursday, and the last cub was captured early today. The bears — crying and scratching at the steel sides of traps — were taken from the Soda Butte Campground in a three-truck convoy to Bozeman.
Their departure brought relief among residents and visitors in Cooke City, an old mining town just outside Yellowstone National Park that was jolted by news that three people were attacked as they slept in separate tents.
“They captured them? All of them?” asked Linda Olson. The 60-year-old nurse from Minnesota let out a sigh when she learned the answer was yes.
Authorities said the bear family, under the tutelage of the mother, specifically targeted campers — a sharp departure from the usual behavior of grizzlies attacking only when threatened or surprised.
Evidence indicated all three cubs likely participated in what Warden Capt. Sam Sheppard called a sustained attack on Kevin Kammer, 48, of Grand Rapids, Mich. He was pulled from his tent and dragged 25 feet. At least one of the bears fed on his body.
Fibers from a tent or sleeping bag were in the droppings of the captured bears, and a tooth fragment found in a tent appears to match a chipped tooth on the sow, which weighed more than 300 pounds.
Despite the unusual nature of the attacks, there also was a realization in Cooke City that bear run-ins would continue. Three million tourists a year visit the remote and wild Yellowstone region of Montana and Wyoming, which has an estimated 600 grizzlies.
“It’s a great spot, but you have to realize we’re in their home. We’re part of the food chain,” said Pat Froelich, 75, as she ate breakfast at the Bear Claw Bakery and watched the trucks haul the grizzlies from town.
The two other victims, Deb Freele of London, Ontario, and Ronald Singer of Alamosa, Colo., were initially hospitalized in Cody, Wyo.
Singer, 21, was treated and released. Freele was scheduled to have surgery today for bite wounds and a broken bone in her arm, said her husband, Bill Freele. He expected her to be released from the hospital sometime this weekend.
Deb Freele is a native of Michigan and knew Kammer but did not realize he was in the same campground or that he was the victim until she saw his picture with a story about the maulings, her husband said.
Bill Freele was in Cooke City on today retrieving the couple’s camping equipment. He said he agreed that the mother bear should be killed “because it tasted humans.”
He was fine with placing the cubs in a zoo. “Just don’t tell me where it is,” he said.
Children permitted at Washington prison powwows 
csdqueen on July 30 at 10:34 a.m.
You didn’t do ANYTHING? Seriously?? Yeah she was hunting you because you are invading her territory and you are a meal. People are taking over the woods, and wilderness, and then asking “Why me? ” When an animal attacks them. Hello!?!
Robert_S on July 30 at 10:43 a.m.
The Browne quote about citizens concerned for environmental protection should have been left out. The editor who made the decision to use it can only be doing so because it is a provocative opinion intended to create a false conflict. Citizens concerned with environmental protection have no reasons to protest the extermination of a bear that killed a human. Browne’s comments are from an ignorant man and have no connection with the subject of the story. The editor should be reprimanded for trying to juice up the story leaving it in.
shonk on July 30 at 11:03 a.m.
:::”csdqueen on July 30 at 10:34 a.m.
You didn’t do ANYTHING? Seriously?? Yeah she was hunting you because you are invading her territory and you are a meal. People are taking over the woods, and wilderness, and then asking “Why me? ” When an animal attacks them. Hello!?!”“”
A establish camp ground is not the sow’s territory. Most likely a previous camper left some food stuff behind in the area of the tent. Something is wrong but it’s not territory. Man has been living in that area for 1000’s of years.
PhiltheBibliophil on July 30 at 11:15 a.m.
Just more of the continued failed policies of everyone from Interior Secretarys, to the National Park Service, the Forest Service and especially the Bureau of Land Management! And enviro’s havn’t helped either! When Anglo-Saxan Arayan Whites ran rampant over the West they eliminated Grizzly’s and wolves because they got in our way. Why do we have a problem with doing it now? We sure didn’t have a problem when we slaughtered Indians by the millions!
Itsgodswill on July 30 at 12:49 p.m.
@Shonk: Are you kidding me? Are you saying that bears have designated area’s where they can (should) and cannot (should not) be? Bears don’t care where humans are, it’s all their territory, whether man had INVADED it 1000’s of years ago to turn into their own personal area or not. Man has turned much of the wild into concrete, homes, strip malls, etc..And then wonder why animals are coming into “human territory”..Let’s also look at survival of the fittest..This doesn’t just apply to a man vs. man or animal vs. animal situation..It applies all around. If you go and get mauled by a bear and cannot successfully fight it off, guess what? The bear is more fit to be in the wild then you are… It’s called the WILDERNESS because it’s in the WILD where WILD animals are. If I went out there and got attacked by a bear, I would obviously be pretty bummed out by it, but I sure as hell wouldn’t blame the bear for doing what it’s instincts tell it to do, which is survive by any means necessary. I swear you people get more and more stupid by the day.
carisa021 on July 30 at 1:12 p.m.
NPR reported on this last night. The bears behavior may be changing due to disappearing whitebark pine nuts. The trees are dying in huge swaths (half are already dead) due to infestations of whitebark beetles. Researchers stated the beetles are moving up into subalpine areas because of global warming. When the high-calorie, high-fat nuts are not available, the bears eat more meat, especially in fall when they consume huge amounts to prepare for winter…
Itsgodswill on July 30 at 1:41 p.m.
Which shows that not only are bears fit to be in the environment, but they’re also able to adapt to changes in the environment. Most humans, on the other hand, have become accustomed to the “easy” lifestyle with their tv’s, vehicles, cell phones, and grocery stores. Bears don’t have the choice to live inside of a home and go to the store for their dinner..So, as they’re supposed to, they live in the wild and eat what they can..
Use your head, it’s not that difficult to understand…
MrNatural on July 30 at 3:04 p.m.
Discuss this all you want…what will result is four new stinky rugs for the Park Rangers station.
maddiewalker on July 30 at 3:35 p.m.
To: Robert S
guess what, I totally oppose euthanizing the bear and I’m also concerned about environmental protection. You are wrong.
maddiewalker on July 30 at 3:37 p.m.
Carisa—thanks for posting this info—very sad and scary for us all. Too bad us moderate, intelligent folk have to get our planet destroyed by a bunch of ignorant, global warming denying, sheeple.
de3 on July 30 at 4:17 p.m.
According to the US Geological Survey, bears feed on whitebark pine nuts beginning in mid-August until late fall. The attack occurred in late July.
According to the USGS (link below), whit bark pine die off in the vicinity of Yellowstone is low with a mean mortality of 7%. By comparison, in other areas of Montana, the USGS documents white bark pine die offs in the 40% to 60% range.
The USGS says “dramatic declines are primarily attributable to a disease, white pine blister rust, and fire exclusion. Blister rust is an exotic fungus accidentally introduced from Europe to western North America around 1910. A massive effort to control blister rust was unsuccessfully waged from 1930-1970. White pine blister rust has severely damaged cone production capability and whitebark pine regeneration is currently limited by seed availability.”
Please see
http://nrmsc.usgs.gov/research/whitebar.htm
The USGS does not link this to climate change. Nor does the Whitebark Pine Ecosystem Foundation (http://www.whitebarkfound.org/threats.html).
An environmental advocacy group, the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) claims a link between white pine blister rust and climate change. But other scientists dispute that. Please see
http://bsi.montana.edu/acloserlook/blogs/twila-moon/whitebark-pine-endangered-species
The alleged link between human induced global warming and this bear attack does not seem to be supported by the above.
Nomore on July 30 at 6:22 p.m.
Thats some FAST DNA results. They always claim months in paternity tests etc etc. So if only the results could be verified and double checked.
I find it hard to believe they had results in less than 24. hrs.
If they did then there is a huge amount of explaining to do in other cases that they claim that results will be 30-90 days.
lewis8457 on July 31 at 10:15 a.m.
What has happened to our forest rangers? they are turning into cops, if it is a problem they just kill it.
Will we ever live in peace and harmony with the animals? Nope, not until we kill them all.
The grizzly cubs were saved but the cubs of a black bear were killed a few weeks ago for a lesser offense.
Man is by far the cruelest of all in the animal kingdom.
DJSforUSA on July 31 at 1:26 p.m.
I certainly wish animal rights activists cared as much about human lives as they do animal lives and rights. Just think, then there would not be any abortions, killing babies, nor would there be any euthanization of humans.
Oh yeah, I think these same people fight to keep abortions, which is baby killing.
Grizzly Bears and wolves killing people has nothing to do with global warming, especially since global warming has been proven to be nothing more than a scam for gain of money and power!
For those of you who don’t know, the hundreds, if not thousands of emails of the scientists who Falsified Results to show global warming have been exposed for evidence and anyone still pushing global warming better look and find the news stories showing the proof.
Itsgodswill on August 02 at 1:46 p.m.
It’s pretty bold to state that animal rights activists don’t care about human lives. But the fact is that human being are the most malicious creatures on this earth. There is none more hurtful then human beings, so it’s sometimes hard to justify trying to stand up for the rights of something that does nothing but hurt and kill purely for fun. I am 100% for animals rights, but im also 100% against abortion, so it’s pretty lame that you assume animal rights activists are for abortion…For all you know, the people getting abortions could be those who are hunting for sport, with no intention of using anything from the animal they killed..Until you have proof that all these animal rights activists are having or supporting abortions, your statement is stupid, irrelevant, and ignorant.