Bear Kills 1, Injures 2 at Mont. Campground

(CBS/AP)  At least one bear rampaged through a campground near Yellowstone National Park before dawn Wednesday, killing one person and injuring two others before campers sought shelter in their cars, wildlife officials said.

Tents were smashed in the 4 a.m. attack that left a male dead at the Soda Butte campground. A female suffered severe lacerations from bites on her arms, while another male was bitten on his calf and taken to a hospital in Cody, Wyo.

Wildlife officials did not release the identities or ages of the victims. A response team was being sent to piece together what happened.

"We don't know if it was one bear, two bears, a black bear or grizzly bear," Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks spokesman Ron Aasheim said. "Obviously, the bear's gone now. Will it come back tonight? That's the question."

Authorities will set traps and seek bear hair, saliva and droppings while measuring the bite wounds of victims to determine the type and number of bears involved in the attack.

Authorities cleared the campground after the attack was reported at 6 a.m., telling campers to go to their cars.

It was not immediately clear how many people were in the campground at the time of the attack.

A Cooke City resident who chose to remain anonymous told CBS affiliate KTVQ that there were two separate attacks, both causing severe injuries. The source says there may have been a third attack.

The same campground was the site of a 2008 attack in which a grizzly bear bit and injured a man sleeping in a tent. A young adult female grizzly was captured in a trap four days after the attack and transported to a bear research center at Washington State University in Pullman.

The 10-acre Soda Butte campground has 27 sites for tents and recreational vehicles in the Gallatin National Forest, some five miles from the northeastern entrance of Yellowstone National Park.

It is located just off the mountainous Beartooth Highway about 125 miles southwest of Billings.

The dead male was found at a campsite at the western edge of the sprawling campground. It was not immediately clear where the other two victims were located.

"It is a populated area for bears, not just grizzly bears but black bears," Gallatin National Forest spokeswoman Marna Daley said.

The campground, which is run by the U.S. Forest Service, has been closed, as well as two other nearby campgrounds, Daley said. Forest Service officials will consider closing more campgrounds after consulting with state wildlife officials leading the investigation, she said.

Jack Hanna Wards Off Grizzlies with Pepper Spray

[wlhoppers]

To maypo - I truly am sorry about your brother and I hope one day your grief will ease.

What if he wasn't killed by a bear though? What if it had been some inebriated camper, shooting off his gun and his mouth with the same terrible consequences? Would you advocate killing every camper in every park, just for vengeance?

When anyone goes camping in a wilderness area they have to remember they're the guest and that means the rules are changed. That means being responsible about storing your food, cleaning up your campsite and being aware of the potential dangers. To make the bears pay for our own actions/inactions is wrong and will decimate, perhaps eliminate an already threatened species.

[newsterI]

Wildlife officials did not release the identities or ages of the victims. A response team was being sent to piece together what happened."

LOL, "piece together" rather odd words to use in an article about torn up and dismembered people.


"We don't know if it was one bear, two bears, a black bear or grizzly bear," Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks spokesman Ron Aasheim said. "Obviously, the bear's gone now. Will it come back tonight? That's the question."

No, the better question is when do we practice one child per couple and reduce the human population so we dont overrun the entire planet, causing these kinds of attacks when we invade wildlife's homes?

They'll do what they always do, go out in revenge and kill half a dozen or more suspected bears hoping they get the one who attacked.

[rrozsa]

To Newster1 - I get your point, but in this case, it doesn't really apply in my opinion. Yellowstone National Park isn't exactly overpopulated with people and suburban developments - it's a place where people can "get back to nature". The answer here is to follow the rules regarding food clean-up, and carry a .45 for the occasional crazy rogue.

[nearl451]

Article is really oddly written. A male killed; a female bitten, etc.

I think we know the species of the victims at least.

Don't know if it is one or more bears and don't know which species of bear. Bigfoot perhaps? Tell you what. It isn't rocket science to figure this out: when you do. Please report the NEWS.

Examine the scat for Jingly jangly stuff bells, etc.

[Solarrays247]

Better watch out, Mr. Bear! We've fouled our waters, now we're coming for you!! Hide if you can while the humans are self-destructing...then the planet will be yours once again!

[Freedom1020]

I love reading the replies of people with no clue about nature. The grizzly were put back in Yellowstone in the 80's. Now the wolves have wiped out their food source. So they are in starving and attacking people. There camp was correct and all food store properly. So stop with the know it all replies. This is due to the fact that the hippie fruitcakes are over protecting super predators. We need to tell the wimps to shut up and start hunting all predators to put the fear of man back into them. Nobody said shoot all the bears. That is strawman argument of a anti human cultist that lives in the city. You people have ruin American wildlife. A barren wasteland is coming and you city people think animal are more important then people are delusional. Humans are NOT over populated but you have to break brainwashing and watch a film called Demographic winter www.demographicwinter.com to learn that truth. Also if you want to learn the truth about wolves destruction you need to see a film called Undue Burden the real cost of living with wolves. www.prosts.com

[displeased]

maypo and wyodutch, if you're going to camp in bear country, you need to strictly follow the rules. Going around and shooting all the bears so you can be lazy is not an option. If you aren't capable of following the rules, or if you feel you have to kill all dangerous animals for your safety, then you should stay home.

[wyodutch]

No... YOU should stay home if you're not concerned enough about your own safety to be armed. I pack a Ruger Redhawk .45 LC in bear country. There ain't no calling 911 in the woods.

[displeased]

wyodutch, I carry mace like the guy in the story. The only reason I consider carrying a gun is for other humans. What's helped me though is I'm very strict with my food handling out in the woods, and I avoid public campgrounds because most campers are careless and leave food lying around. I've had trouble with animals only at public campgrounds, never out in the back country.

Most of the places I go, there are no people, no phones, no reception for phones or weather radio, only GPS. And I usually go 3 to 4 days before even seeing a person. The further away from people, the better off I am. Don't worry about me. I've managed for 20 years out in the woods and will be fine for another 20.

[maypo]

My brother was killed by a grizzly in 1983 in Gallitin. The Park Service determined that the people in the campsite next to his had not cleaned food out of their firepit. Whatever. The fact is grizzlys are dangerous animals that kill people. They should be shot on sight.

[tsigili]

The probability is a grizzly, and the humans probably failed to follow anti-bear measures, in their campsite.

Of course, in the end, it will be the bears that pay the price for the folly of humans.

[wyodutch]

Baloney. That's like turning rattlesnakes loose in Central Park and then blaming the people for being bitten. You can't follow "anti-bear" measures (whatever you think that means) in a public park when the campers are from Cauliflowernia and New Yawk.
.
A year or so ago, a local guy was attacked by a Grizzly. The guy was packing a .45 auto. He was able to place the barrel in the bears mouth and send it to the great hunting grounds.

[1notrub11]

Wyo, that is an absurd response. The bears were not "let loose" in this area. They have always been there. It's a national park - that does not suggest it is "public" in the sense of a place like Central Park in New York.
I am sorry to hear about the loss of life, but I do not see further civilizing those particular surroundings in order to make it "perfect" for a lowest common denominator. At that point, why open the area to the public at all? It might as well be Disneyland.