Grizzly in maulings near Yellowstone was stressed, had parasites

[RamboLiberal]

Hunger and internal parasites afflicted a grizzly bear that mauled three campers near Yellowstone National Park, but investigators said Monday those factors failed to explain such aggressive predatory behavior.

The bear's late-night rampage through a crowded campground was the most brazen by a Yellowstone grizzly in a quarter-century. It left one man dead and two people with serious injuries.

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DNA tests on strands of hair found at the campground linked the mother bear to the attacks. And a vegetarian diet was blamed for the mother grizzly's poor body condition, which the report said was "made worse by a load of parasites found in her small intestine."

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The necropsy suggested the bear had not eaten human food for at least the last two years. That conclusion was based on a carbon isotope analysis of hair, blood and serum from the bear that showed very low levels of types of carbon common in human and pet foods.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/08/16/national/a133340D26.DTL#ixzz0wssVIvt5

[joeybee12]

1. There were reports of a photographer "baiting" the bear......

did they not follow up on that lead?

[RamboLiberal]

3. That's in the linked story as unsubstantiated rumors so far

[joeybee12]

7. The comments on the article are stupid...simply that she went for a higher food

source...i still think someone did something to her...that is the most likely explanation that they don't seem to be pursuing.

[mikelgb]

2. parasites = humans

bear did indeed have parasites

[RamboLiberal]

4. Huh?

Parasites are quite common in wild animals.

[Jackpine Radical]

5. Jesus. It sounds like America:

"Hunger and internal parasites afflicted grizzly bear..."

Americans, afflicted by banksters, parasitic insurance companies, and other billionaire freeloaders, are driven to collective insanity and lash out at innocent bystanders.

[LiberalFighter]

6. Was Palin in the area?

[hedgehog]

8. I think bears are intelligent enough that an individual bear may

behave differently from the norm for no particular reason.