"Bear experts will spend a month compiling information to determine the sequence of events and.."

[uppityperson]

For those who haven't been following, a mother bear and her 3 yearling cubs mauled 3 people in tents at 2 am in a long established campground in Montana near Yellowstone, killed and partially ate one of them. A culvert trap was baited by putting the dead person's tent over it, and caught the mother bear the next night when she pushed her way into the tent. All 3 yearlings were caught and a Montana zoo will take them. The mother was euthinized (killed) after DNA testing showed she was the bear involved.

If you want to see the area, please google map Soda Butte Campground.

The next thing is to figure out wtf happened, and I will post back when they publish something as I am interested in this, having camped there and in the as a child and having lived and loved bear country in various states as an adult. I want to know why this happened as it is a very sad story all the way around.

http://missoulian.com/news/state-and-regional/article_38118e0a-9c5f-11df-8306-001cc4c002e0.html

Bear experts will spend a month compiling information to determine the sequence of events and possible causes that led to the fatal mauling of a Michigan man at Soda Butte Campground early Wednesday, but they all agree on one thing already – the unusual nature of the event.

“These types of incidents, where we appear to have an unnaturally aggressive bear, are very, very unusual,” said Chris Servheen, grizzly bear recovery coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Missoula. “We can’t explain it at this point. As we reconstruct it, maybe we’ll understand better.”

Kevin Ronald Kammer, 48, was killed in the attack, his body partially consumed. Two other campers in the campground were injured in separate attacks the same morning beginning at around 1:30. Officials said no food appeared to have been left out to attract the bears.

After the attacks, wildlife officials set traps in the campground. A sow grizzly was captured at 6 p.m. Wednesday in a culvert trap set up where Kammer was killed. Two of her three cubs were trapped overnight. The other followed a day later.

“We feel fortunate that the bear did come back,” Servheen said. “In a situation where you have a predatory bear, they will often come back to the kill site.”

[KittyWampus]

1. Is there some food in the wild they might be eating that makes the bears crazy?

Berry, greenery etc?

[Cleita]

5. Fermented berries will get them drunk. n/t

[AspenRose]

2. It's damn scary, that's what it is

Definitely put a hamper on my hiking and camping plans for a while.

[uppityperson]

3. I want to know what happened also and how they will try to prevent this in the future.

Is it a symptom of something larger happening or what.

[Maru Kitteh]

35. To avoid camping because of this would be irrational. You're still way more likely to bite it

on the highway on your way to get to the campground or even get killed by lightning than you are to suffer any kind of bear incident.

[Cleita]

4. I believe the bears are stressed from too many visitors.

I posted this on another thread. When I was a campground host in northeastern Washington in a place near the Canadian border that was very wild and with very few roads, one summer I kept getting campers who were fleeing from camping in Glacier National Park because of mean bear incidents. Now if you have ever been to Glacier or Yellowstone during the summer, it's bumper to bumper traffic on the roads. The hiking trails are full of hikers and the campgrounds bursting at the seams with people. I think the bears become stressed. In places that have fewer humans visiting the bears tend to go their own way when you give them space and they don't enter campgrounds when campers don't leave food around, a policy we hosts impressed on campers with vigor. As a matter of fact, our biggest worry in that campground wasn't bears but cougars who viewed small children as nice fat rabbits. I hope these "experts" take this into consideration. I doubt if they will act on it though because fewer visitors means less money for the myriad of concessionaires that are in the Parks.

[uppityperson]

6. Having lived through the horrendous Yellowstone yrs, "experts" do take this into

consideration. I remember people feeding bears from cars on the road, the awful traffic jams, way back when I was a kid and we tried to visit Yellowstone. They finally figured out that they needed to change things, to help protect people and bears.

From a purely financial consideration, the Parks will lose money if people quit visiting because others have gotten eaten by bears as well as if they limit visitors. I am cynical, yes. However, I am sure they will look at population numbers, contact numbers, of people and bears. I am glad they quit feeding bears at dumps so people could be sure to see them.

There is a lot of work to do to keep bears safe from people and I am sure the "experts" will be looking into ways to do that.

[backwoodsbob]

10. no

I live in an EXTREMELY isolated spot with ZERO traveler stress on the wildlife and we have bear problems.They WILL go feral and hunt human spots for easy food sometimes.Bears are no easier to figure out than humans.

If a bear decides humans and human food are the food of choice the only choice is to put it down.I've shot one medium size black on my property that was hunting our dogs.Three quick 30.06 rounds to the chest win

edit

before someone askes..the FIRST thing I did after killing said bear was to call our local dnr.He investigated and called the killing justified.

[Cleita]

15. So what is stressing your bears?

Think about it. If they are going after your dogs that means there isn't enough wild food for them and they will turn to other sources. A friend of mine suggested also that bear hunting could turn them. I mean, did they get shot and get away, heal, but now really hate humans? Or did a grown cub get killed of a mama bear and she's holding the grudge. There is a lot to think about here and a lot to explore. And sure the fermented berries or ergot on the grasses they eat could affect them.

[uppityperson]

7. From 2 recs to one. Odd. Maybe not GD material?

[uppityperson]

18. huh, was up to 4, now back down to 3. This is REALLY odd as it seems people might want to know why

this happened. Guess finding out "why" rather than simply saying "it's people's fault for being outside" is too scary.

Maybe because people disagree with me that figuring out ways to coexist with such wonderful beings as bears is bad?

[AspenRose]

8. K&R

:kick:

[Rabrrrrrr]

9. Maybe it's time for more animals to rise up against us until we learn to live in harmony.

Awfully tragic what happened, but unless more attacks happen soon, I think we can chalk one attack like this in the last 40 or 50 years, whatever it is, as just part of the chances one takes when being out in nature.

If we could train the bears to only attack and eat the idiots who go into parks with their radios and other noisemaking shit, and who litter, and who make fires that are too big, and feed, poke, prod, or harass the animals - then I'd rest pretty happy.

[Yo_Mama]

20. ONE ATTACK?

Whoa, your numbers are way off. I didn't remember most of these, but I remembered the little girl in TN a few years ago.

Check out this list of fatal attacks by species and decade.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_bear_attacks_in_North_America

Just glancing at it, since 2000 there have been 30 human fatalities. A few aren't from wild bears, or happened from feeding the bears.

I don't think this is that unusual. If you look by decade, you can see the pretty steady rise in human fatalities. For one thing, bears used to get shot at a lot more which made them stay clear of humans, and for another thing, people seem somehow now to believe that they are not dangerous animals, which makes people reckless.

They are predators. This is normal behavior for them. They'll attack and eat deer, pigs, goats, ponies, or basically anything they can get at when they are hungry.

These are just the fatalities - there are more injuries.

[Rabrrrrrr]

24. I meant deadly attacks at Yellowstone specifically - like the one in the OP.

I see in the list that the last three deadly attacks there were 1986, 1984, and 1972.

So I was off by a bit, but still, the number is low. My worry is that the way that societies love to over-react that there'd be a huge public outcry to "Make Yellowstone less dangerous!!" when there's not really any more danger there now than there ever has been.

Though as you say, I'm sure attacks will increase as the bear population is finally growing back to where it should be, and we've become so much better at not killing everything that might cause danger. I just fear that that attitude that took so long to get to could be very quickly shattered by a few idiots with the political power to do it.

[uppityperson]

21. You do know that people are supposed to make noise in bear country, right?

They are advised to wear bells and talk so they don't surprise bears who might attack from being startled and to warn mama bears they are coming so they get the cubs out of the way and don't feel threatened.

I am sure you know this, right? I'm not sure since you write: "If we could train the bears to only attack and eat the idiots who go into parks with their radios and other noisemaking shit"

[Rabrrrrrr]

22. Obviously, I'm talking about "parks" in a far more geographic sense than "bear-heavy areas"

and by "animals" I'm talking about animals more than just bears.

And I should have said "and equivalent noisemaking shit", meaning the assholes who go to parks to "get away from it all" and bring it all with them and ruin it for everyone who's there because they actually like nature and being a little less plugged in. Radios, boomboxes, karaoke machines, generators, margarite blenders: unnatural shit like that. I'm fine with flutes, banjos, bells, manually operated cocktail shakers, non-amplified singing, guitar, and so on.

And you are very right to remind people that they should be noisy if they're in bear territory.

The bells also help to identify the people in the bear scat later, lol. :D

[uppityperson]

23. Ah, it wasn't obvious so thanks for clarifying and sorry for snarking

I agree with you and that is the joke about the bears and bells.

[Rabrrrrrr]

26. Probably not as obvious as it should have been -

and I do love that bear joke! :rofl:

And the other one - it's not important to be able to outrun a bear, only to be able to outrun the slowest person in your party.

[uppityperson]

32. And once you get ahead you stay ahead because YOU have dry ground to run on

Actually I was thinking about this recently (my little monkey mind there) and realizing that it wouldn't work. The first person would be knocked down, then the bear would see the second person and, cat like, dash after him/her. So, logically, best place is behind person, falling into a fetal position just before the bear gets to you and waiting for it to grab the front still running person. Laugh quietly.

My mind amazes me sometimes.

[SoCalDem]

11. Bears being bears...the horror!

[uppityperson]

12. Again you advocate against being outdoors, sleeping only in buildings.

And you seem to be saying that being killed and eaten should be taken as par for the course of being outside. And you seem to be saying that bears preying on humans is just "bears being bears" though experts disagree.

Ah well, glad you saw this as I was hoping you would since you seemed interested before.

[johnaries]

13. This was not typical bear behaviour, if you would bother to read

any of the information.

[SoCalDem]

14. "Typical" behavior still varies from circumstance to circumstance

Maybe that mother bear with THREE apparently healthy cubs had been having problems finding enough food for them..Bears are smart, but they are also omnivores who see "opportunity" when it presents itself.

According the the report I saw yesterday, these campers were outside the "ordinary" camping area, and they were "near" Yellowstone.

It's very likely that this Mama Bear saw "easy" prey, and paid for the adventure with her own life.

People out here get outraged when Fifi or Fido get nabbed by coyotes, but they fail to recognize that wild animals do whatever is necessary to feed their young..it's up to the humans to be more savvy.

[uppityperson]

16. No. They were staying in a long established campground (links) that was outside Yellowstone Ntl Park

Google map Soda Butte campground and you can see where it is, interesting to do the satellite part also.

http://www.alamosanews.com/v2_news_articles.php?heading=0&page=72&story_id=17509

The group was staying in Soda Butte Campground outside of Yellowstone because the Yellowstone National Park campgrounds were full.

http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/news/article_217c700c-9c5e-11df-964e-001cc4c002e0.html

A female grizzly bear was euthanized Friday afternoon after DNA test results confirmed she was responsible for the predawn maulings at a campground outside of Yellowstone National Park Wednesday that killed one man and injured two other people, wildlife officials said.
(clip)
A full autopsy will be performed on the bear to see if any physical ailments or conditions might have contributed to its aggressive behavior, Servheen said.

Evidence indicates that the sow led its cubs in targeted attacks on the campers, who were sleeping inside their tents at the time. "We want to try to understand if this behavior is related to some physical problem the bear had," Servheen said.

http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/news/article_b67c4210-9ab8-11df-ad3e-001cc4c002e0.html

The bear or bears attacked the Soda Butte campground around 2 a.m., tearing through the dark, wooded campsites five miles north of the park, witnesses said.

The marauding bear or bears killed one man, bit another man on the calf and tore a woman's arm, leaving deep lacerations. The two surviving victims were taken to a hospital in Cody, Wyo.

"There were three separate attacks in three separate campsites, which is unusual," Ron Aasheim, spokesman for the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, said.
(clip)
The man and the woman who were injured were staying at separate campsites, but the campsites were close to one another, Jones said. The man who was killed was staying alone at a campsite further away, although she would not say whether he was found there or elsewhere.

[uppityperson]

17. It could be having 3 cubs led her to easy prey. That is what they are trying to figure out now.

It is up to humans to be more savy and not camp out or go out into the woods or areas where they might get hurt? All the info has shown these humans were camping in a long established campground, with clean camps. Aside from your wish for everyone to sleep in hotels and not go outside, what else could these people sleeping quietly in their tents have done?

I hope they figure out what happened, what went wrong, as is this VERY atypical bear behavior.

[Rabrrrrrr]

25. You are coming, I think, from a much too human-centric viewpoint.

Judging what is "typical" solely from the standpoint of "as it relates to humans".

The bear's behavior was fairly typical of a bear - if a bear sees an opportunity to eat, he/she will take it. Or if a bear sees an opportunity to go to battle against something that irritates it, or threatens it, or is in their spot, or that comes across them on a moody day, they'll go for it.

Maybe it's not typical for bear to attack humans, but that's not because of anything special about us - it's because there aren't as many of us as there are berries and salmon and other far easier to get foods.

But they will attack if they feel it's worth it to them, whether it be humans, moose, or dogs. And given the number of attacks over the centuries, it's pretty clear that bears really don't give a shit if they're attacking us or taking out a deer. Food is food, annoyance is annoyance.

[beam me up scottie]

27. Actually, uppity is the only one who has done her homework in this case.

She has been posting links and trying to discuss this reasonably for days but it hasn't stopped the DU Drama Patrol.

[uppityperson]

28. No, I am using typical of most bears. Like all creatures, there are variations though

Bears typically do not attack and eat humans sleeping in tents. For some reason they, typically, view most humans as just other beings but not, typically, as food.

This is why they are trying to figure out why this atypical attack happened. What were the precipitating factors, what can we humans do (if anything) to avoid this situation happening again.

Could be a habituated bear, or a very hungry one, or simply a teabagger type of bear since even they have assholes.

It will be very interesting to see what is found out.

[beam me up scottie]

29. "Bears typically do not attack and eat humans sleeping in tents."

This should be obvious since there aren't hundreds of bears waiting to be seated at the Yellowstone All-U-Can-Eat Buffet/Campground.

[uppityperson]

33. Indeed. If it were typical, bears would probably have been all killed. Like t-rex was by cavemen

ignore that last bit.

[beam me up scottie]

34. Goddamn cavemen.

I live amongst them. You would not believe how many guys are terrified by opossums down here. It's bad enough they fall all over themselves killing every poor snake in sight, (because they're all eeevul water moccasins, you know, and water moccasins eat human babies for breakfast and pick their teeth with the little bones) but opossums?

Some people just don't want to know the facts about animals, I guess it's easier to impress your friends by vilifying our fellow creatures.

[uppityperson]

36. Opossums? Yes, they are smelly marsupials that look like ROUS's, but

why would they be scared of an opossum? Maybe because their babies in the pouch are tiny fetus's? Maybe because they are....?

Yup, people should stay inside because, after all, we aren't animals.

[beam me up scottie]

37. I've been told they are vicious beasts who will attack me and/or eat me and my pets.

This is Bubba (or was Bubba, RIP dude) :


And this is Pippi, our porch cat, letting me know that she is pissed that Bubba is eating her food again:


I loved Bubba, he was friendly and happily shared food and water with others (and boy did he enjoy food - you could hear him snarfing down his chow from a block away), he was so fat he could barely waddle home at the end of the night.

A neighborhood German Shepard had him cornered on our porch one night, the dog didn't want to attack him, he was just curious about this strange, fat, smelly old blob of fur. When I went out to stop the carnage I heard Bubba growl for the first time - it was most impressive. The dog half waved his tail, suddenly unsure about his actions and looked at me for advice, I said "Don't do it, Buddy, trust me, not a good idea." He seemed to agree with my opinion and trotted away. After a few minutes Bubba decided the coast was clear and waddled back home as fast as possible. Not an aggressive predator, to say the least.

[proteus_lives]

30. "it's up to the humans to be more savvy."

It's also up to humans to destroy man-killers.

[beam me up scottie]

19. What is your problem? You're not helping bears by deliberately posting misinformation.

Do you hate animals or something?

[TransitJohn]

31. This is why I take a piece when I go to the mountains.

Bears and mountain lions. One round in the air, and you won't see them again.