A grizzly bear that killed a girl on a Montana path in July and injured an individual close to an Idaho state park in 2020 was euthanized after it broke by the kitchen window of a home this month, Montana wildlife officers stated on Wednesday.
Given the 10-year-old feminine bear’s “history of conflict with people,” the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks division stated, officers determined to kill the animal on Saturday, moments after it had damaged into a house close to West Yellowstone, a city of about 1,200 residents that’s roughly a mile from Yellowstone National Park.
The grizzly bear was with a cub when she broke into the house on Saturday morning and eliminated a container of pet food from inside, officers stated. Later that night, wildlife officers and legislation enforcement officers captured the cub and shot the grownup grizzly.
The Fish, Wildlife and Parks division stated its resolution to kill the bear had been rooted in an “immediate public safety threat from the bear’s food-conditioned behavior.”
The male cub, which weighed 46 kilos, was being held at a wildlife rehabilitation middle as preparations have been being made within the coming weeks to switch it to a zoo, the division stated.
The grizzly bear’s journey by the mountainous states of Montana and Idaho had elicited concern from officers, who tried to lure and take away the bear a number of instances after the deadly assault in July.
The sufferer in that assault, Amie Adamson, 48, of Derby, Kan., had been on a morning hike or run alongside Buttermilk Trail, eight miles west of West Yellowstone, on the time of the assault, which didn’t seem to have been predatory and occurred when Ms. Adamson was alone and with out firearms or bear spray, the authorities stated.
That assault occurred close to houses, campgrounds and high-use trails, officers stated, and it was deemed to have been a defensive response by the bear. The bear encounter in Idaho in 2020 occurred close to Henrys Lake State Park.
Montanans have heard warnings in current months about potential risks posed by increasing bear populations within the state. Officials have informed guests to “be bear aware.”
In some instances, grizzlies have been noticed in locations the place that they had not been seen for greater than a century, together with the Pryor Mountains, the place the species was not believed to have been seen because the late 1800s.
Grizzly bears are a federally protected subspecies of brown bears in all decrease 48 states beneath the Endangered Species Act. Their growth in Montana, the division stated, “enhances the long-term prospects for population sustainability” for the bears, but it surely additionally “poses new challenges” for Montanans as a result of the animals can harm property or injure individuals.
Grizzlies are bigger than black bears, with adults standing greater than eight toes tall when they’re reared up on their hind legs. The common weight of a grizzly bear is 400 to 500 kilos for males and 250 to 350 kilos for females. The bears can run as much as 35 miles per hour.
Earlier this 12 months, the division shared images that present a grizzly bear standing virtually as tall as a shed, its lengthy and curved claws slashing bits of wooden.
Grizzly bear assaults, nonetheless, are uncommon. Since Yellowstone National Park was established in 1872, solely eight individuals have been killed by bears within the park, most just lately in 2015, in accordance with the National Park Service. Since 1979, 44 individuals have been injured by grizzly bears within the park, which has had greater than 118 million guests throughout that point.
“More people in the park have died from drowning (125 incidents) and burns (after falling into hot springs, 23 incidents) than have been killed by bears,” the service stated.
Still, the hazard is actual, and officers have supplied Montanans a number of suggestions: Carry and know methods to use bear spray; journey in teams when doable and plan to be out within the daylight; and keep away from carcass websites and concentrations of ravens and different scavengers.
Source: www.nytimes.com