Glacier officials decide mauling ‘defensive’

GLACIER NATIONAL PARK, Mont. – A female grizzly bear that attacked and injured two California hikers here in August reacted to a perceived threat to her two cubs and won’t be killed or moved from the park, officials said Thursday.

The park’s investigation concluded the Aug. 25 incident was a “defensive attack” by the sow, whom the two hikers apparently surprised while hiking in Glacier’s Many Glacier Valley.

Under the circumstances, “it was determined that no action toward the bear was required,” said park spokeswoman Melissa Wilson.

Johan Otter, 43, director of physical, speech and occupational therapy at Scripps Memorial Hospital in San Diego, and his 18-year-old daughter, Jenna, were mauled by the female bear and suffered additional injuries when they tumbled over cliffs below the trail.

Both were airlifted from the park and hospitalized.

In a written statement, the park said that while the Otters were talking while hiking up the trail, they acknowledged they were not making a lot of noise – as experts advise while traveling in bear country – and encountered the bears on a blind corner.

Jenna Otter tried to use bear spray when the attack occurred, but was unfamiliar with the spray’s operation, officials said.

The bears left immediately after the attack and have not been seen since, park officials said.

Park bear policies allow rangers to kill or remove bears under certain circumstances, including instances in which the animals act aggressively toward humans or have become too conditioned to the presence of humans or human food, Wilson said.

So far this year, she said, park officials have destroyed three black bears.