An investigation is currently underway to determine the cause of death of a hiker found in the vicinity of the Elephant Back Loop Trail in the Lake Village area of Yellowstone National Park. Around noon on Friday, August 7, a park ranger found the body of a Montana man who had been reported missing by co-workers that morning. The identity of the victim is being withheld pending notification of family members.

The Elephant Back Loop Trail and immediate area is closed to hikers while the investigation continues. Although there were signs of grizzly bear activity in the area, a conclusive cause of death, which likely occurred on Thursday afternoon or Friday morning, has yet to be determined.

Hikers are advised to stay on designated trails, leave an itinerary with others, hike in groups of three or more people, be alert for bears, make noise, and carry bear spray.

Preliminary results of the investigation into the recent death of a hiker in Yellowstone National Park show that the man was attacked by a grizzly bear. While the exact cause of death has not been determined, investigators have identified what appear to be defensive wounds on the victim’s forearms. The victim’s body was found partially consumed and cached, or covered, in the vicinity of the Elephant Back Loop Trail near Lake Village on Friday afternoon. Based on partial tracks found at the scene, it appears that an adult female grizzly and at least one cub-of-the-year were present and likely involved in the incident.

The name of the individual is being withheld pending family notification. The Montana man was a long-term seasonal employee of Medcor, the company that operates three urgent care clinics in the park. He had worked and lived in Yellowstone for five seasons and was an experienced hiker. He was reported missing on Friday morning when he did not report for work. A park ranger found his body in a popular off-trail area he was known to frequent, approximately .5 miles from the Elephant Back Loop Trail. Additional park rangers and wildlife biologists responded to the scene and gathered evidence for bear DNA recovery. The investigation will continue, although heavy rains in the area Friday evening and Saturday morning have made additional evidence recovery difficult. A forensic autopsy is currently scheduled for Monday.

Wildlife biologists set bear traps in the area on Friday evening. If bears are trapped and identified as having been involved in the attack, they will be klled. “We may not be able to conclusively determine the circumstances of this bear attack, but we will not risk public safety,” said Yellowstone National Park Superintendent Dan Wenk. “We are deeply saddened by this tragedy and our hearts go out to the family and friends of the victim as they work to cope with the loss of someone who loved Yellowstone so very much.”

The Elephant Back Loop Trail and immediate area is closed until further notice. Signs are posted and maps of the closure area are available at park visitor centers.

All of Yellowstone National Park is considered bear country. Hikers are advised to stay on designated trails, travel in groups of three or more people, carry bear spray, be alert for bears, and make noise to help avoid surprise encounters.

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eeek

Preliminary results of the investigation into the recent death of a hiker in Yellowstone National Park show that the man was attacked by a grizzly bear. While the exact cause of death has not been determined, investigators have identified what appear to be defensive wounds on the victim’s forearms. The victim’s body was found partially consumed and cached, or covered, in the vicinity of the Elephant Back Loop Trail near Lake Village on Friday afternoon.

...

Wildlife biologists set bear traps in the area on Friday evening. If bears are trapped and identified as having been involved in the attack, they will be killed.

Just another tragic and graphic reminder that a fed bear is a dead bear.

Condolences to the man's family, friends and coworkers.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/08/2015 05:02PM by plawrence.

Looks like they may have found the bear.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/grizzly-suspected-of-killing-veteran-hiker-at-yellowstone-has-been-captured/ar-BBlAAA4

The grizzly in question was thought to have at least one cub of the year which would be too young to survive on it's own.

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parklover
The grizzly in question was thought to have at least one cub of the year which would be too young to survive on it's own.

Since the preliminary report states that the cub probably took part in the kill, the National Park Service will want that cub to be killed too. Per NPS policy, both the mother and cub need to die (even though they were just behaving how grizzly bears have historically behaved).

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plawrence

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parklover
The grizzly in question was thought to have at least one cub of the year which would be too young to survive on it's own.

Since the preliminary report states that the cub probably took part in the kill, the National Park Service will want that cub to be killed too. Per NPS policy, both the mother and cub need to die (even though they were just behaving how grizzly bears have historically behaved).

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The two cubs will be going to the Toledo Zoo.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/cubs-grizzly-bear-put-down-after-yellowstone-attack-will-go-n410146

I'm happy a new home for them was found. It would have been even more awful if NPS had them killed too.

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A 63-year old man from Billings, Montana, has been identified as the victim of last week's grizzly bear attack in Yellowstone. Around noon on Friday, August 7, Lance Crosby was found dead approximately .5 miles from the Elephant Back Loop Trail in a popular off-trail area in the Lake Village area of the park. Crosby was a long-term seasonal employee of Medcor, the company that operates three urgent care clinics in the park. He had worked and lived in Yellowstone for five seasons and was an experienced hiker.

The investigation into Crosby's death continues, but the preliminary results show that he was attacked by at least one grizzly bear. His body was found partially consumed and cached, or covered, and partial tracks at the scene indicate that an adult female grizzly and at least one cub-of-the-year were present and likely involved in the attack. While the exact cause of death has not been determined, investigators have identified what appear to be defensive wounds on Crosby's forearms. DNA evidence was recovered at the scene and will be used to help identify the bear/s involved. A forensic autopsy is scheduled for later today.

Wildlife biologists set bear traps in the area of the attack on Friday evening. One bear was captured during the overnight hours and biologists confirmed later that it was an adult female grizzly. To date, no other bears have been captured and traps remain set in the hopes of catching other bears that are in the area. Biologists have obtained scat samples, paw measurements, and DNA evidence from the bear and this information will be used to determine if the captured bear was the one that attacked Crosby and partially consumed his body. If the bear is determined as having been involved, it will be removed from the population through euthanasia.

"The decision to euthanize kill a bear is one that we do not take lightly. As park managers, we are constantly working to strike a balance between the preservation of park resources and the safety of our park visitors and employees," said Dan Wenk, superintendent of Yellowstone National Park. "Our decision is based on the totality of the circumstances in this unfortunate event. Yellowstone has had a grizzly bear management program since 1983. The primary goals of this program are to minimize bear-human interactions, prevent human-caused displacement of bears from prime food sources, and to decrease the risk of bear-caused human injuries."

The Elephant Back Loop Trail, Natural Bridge Trail, and the immediate area is closed until further notice. All of Yellowstone National Park is considered bear country. Hikers are advised to stay on designated trails, travel in groups of three or more people, carry bear spray, be alert for bears, and make noise to help avoid surprise encounters.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/10/2015 02:00PM by eeek.

While I feel very sad that the man died of a bear attack, I also find it sad that all grizzly bears in Yellowstone National Park are at risk of being condemned and executed just for behaving like how grizzly bears have historically behaved. By killing off those that have less fear of humans, the park managers through not so natural selection are trying to change the intrinsic behavior of the grizzly bears that roam throughout Yellowstone.

Real wilderness has real predators and if we're serious about protecting the real character of our wildernesses, we shouldn't try to sanitize our wilderness areas by taking down our natural predators who are behaving as they have behaved for thousands of years.

I would feel differently if they were dealing with a real aggressive and menacing grizzly bear that was roaming a developed area of Yellowstone like Old Faithful Village or Canyon Village. Putting down such a bear would be absolutely necessary to protect human life, especially that of the general public who would not be properly prepared to fend off a bear attack. But this bear and her cub were roaming an off-trail wilderness area around Elephant Back Mountain, not near any roadway or developed area. I don't see why it should cost the bear's life just because it spotted some prey that wasn't able to successfully fend off the bear attack.

Therefore, for the safety of the public and for the safety and well being of the grizzly bears, the park should consider REQUIRING those who want to hike in the backcountry of Yellowstone to hike in groups of three or more (since it has been extremely rare that any grizzly bear has attacked groups of three or people (though it has happened in very rare circumstances)) and to make it a requirement that hikers have (and know how to use) bear spray.

Otherwise, if an occasional hiker in the Yellowstone wilderness gets killed by a grizzly bear, they just ought to leave the bear alone.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/10/2015 11:39PM by plawrence.

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plawrence
being euthanized

Euthanized? Bull-fucking-shit. They are being klilled. Please stop the lies.

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eeek

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plawrence
being euthanized

Euthanized? Bull-fucking-shit. They are being klilled. Please stop the lies.

I agree, euthanized was the wrong choice of word. It's definitely not a "mercy killing". Condemned and executed would be more accurate.

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plawrence
Otherwise, if an occasional hiker in the Yellowstone wilderness gets killed by a grizzly bear, they just ought to leave the bear alone.

I completely disagree. We don't need man-eating bears wandering around National Parks. On the other hand, most of the time when bears attack humans and it is defensive there is no need to kill those bears. If you had said, "If an occasional hiker in the Yellowstone wilderness gets attacked by a grizzly bear, they just ought to leave the bear alone" I would agree. Even killing a hiker defensively and leaving it without feeding on the body may suggest the bear doesn't need to be killed.

In 2012, in the first ever recorded fatal bear mauling in Denali, a hiker who took several pictures of a bear was killed and the bear fed on and cached him. In that case the bear was killed. But in most bear attacks in Alaska, Fish and Game notes that bears do not need to be destroyed.

Seriously though, if a bear decides he likes the taste of humans? We all know it is very abnormal for a bear to attack and eat a human. I was just having this discussion with a tourist this past weekend. It is rare. But when it happens, the bear needs to be killed. These bears roam large areas and it would be crazy for Yellowstone to allow a man eating bear to roam.

I disagree. It's very normal for grizzly bears (along with polar bears) to view people as prey. They don't have a great fear of us and they'll eat us if given a good opportunity to do so. That's why we need to defend against them.

Outside of National Parks, many people defend against grizzly bears with rifles and guns. Grizzly bears weren't hunted into extinction in California just for sport, they were hunted down also because they were a danger not only to people's livestock but to people themselves.

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I'm not sure where you are getting your information regarding humans as grizzly bear prey---even if you were correct it is very unusual for it to actually happen. That is why I tell tourists there is no need to be scared of bears. You should be more scared driving to the trailhead on dangerous roads. I've been around at least 4 or 5 grizzlies in remote locations that had plenty of opportunity to come after me. How did they know I had bear spray? Of course they don't know, but most grizzly bears simply are not interested in humans as prey.

But the fact that it is so unusual, makes it incumbent upon authorities to kill a bear who actually eats a man. And it has been legal forever in Alaska National Parks to defend yourself against a bear with a gun and although the law hasn't been tested it is likely that it is now legal in any National Park due to the recent law change in 2010.

And by the way, grizzly bears are much different than polar bears. I think polar bears view anything with blood as prey. Grizzly bears much of the time have ample food sources and have no interest in eating a man when they have all the fish and berries they desire. That is why it is so safe to view the bears at Brooks Falls or McNeil River in extremely close proximity to gigantic grizzlies. That said, I would never do an extended hike in Denali without bear spray.

In the Anchorage area alone there are probably 2-3 bear maulings a year. There was just a grizzly mauling last week in the Kenai Peninsula in a very remote area. Over multiple grizzly bear attacks over the 3 1/2 years I have lived in Alaska there has been one case of a bear feeding on the person and that was the first time in the 90 years of recorded history of Denali. Why does the bear go through the trouble of attacking a person and then just leaving it? It is because they have no interest in the human as prey. They perceived the human as a threat and the attacks are defensive.

Is the solution to this problem to kill all grizzly bears, where ever they live, ASAP?
Polar bears too?

If the Yellowstone bear is released, there is a CHANCE that Ma and Pa Selfie will
get the message: Give these animals the space they crave. After all, the beast in
the viewfinder could be THAT bear.

Let them live.

The simple answer is absolutely not--Because most grizzly bears do not view people as prey and thankfully polar bears live in extremely sparsely populated areas.

Besides the "viewfinder" crowd there is also a chance the bear will decide to eat a man whose only carelessness is not properly having his bear spray ready to discharge or perhaps a guy with no carelessness at all. No reason to take a chance with a bear who has decided to be the exception and eat humans.

I agree with what chicagocwright said about grizzly and polar bears. The Yellowstone bear did not behave like a female defending it's cubs usually does because it ate, cached the body for later consumption and stayed in the area of the body. This is why it had to be destroyed. Otherwise it would not have been killed just because it attacked a human.

As for it being a lesson for the selfie group of people, I doubt anything will change their mindset on behavior around wild animals in a park. Case in point: In the last incident with a bison the women stated that her and her family read the literature they were given at the gate and the warning signs all over the park about wild animals and she still thought it was OK to go near the bison because other people were close to it also. Some people will not listen no matter what they are told, see or read for they either think it will not happen to them or feel the rules do not apply to them.