Grizzly suspected in death of Yellowstone hiker trapped, may be killed
REUTERS
First posted: Monday, August 10, 2015 02:49 PM EDT | Updated: Monday, August 10, 2015 03:16 PM EDT
A mother grizzly suspected in the death of a hiker whose partially eaten body was found at Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming has been trapped and will be killed if DNA testing proves she was involved in the attack, the park's superintendent said Monday.
An autopsy on the hiker, Lance Crosby, 63, who was in his fifth season working for a firm that operates urgent-care clinics in Yellowstone, was planned Monday to determine the cause of his death, park Superintendent Dan Wenk said.
Crosby, who was from Montana, was reported missing after failing to show up for work Friday morning and later that day a ranger found his body in a popular back-country area off a trail near Yellowstone Lake. Tracks at the site indicated a grizzly sow and at least one cub were likely involved in an attack that caused defensive injuries to Crosby's forearms, Wenk said.
A grizzly sow was trapped early Saturday morning at the site and another bear or bears may have been captured since, according to a device that showed a second trap in the area had been triggered, Wenk said.
He said the decision to kill any adult bear involved in the incident had set off an outpouring of protests from wildlife advocates.
Public safety is paramount at the park, which sees more than 1 million visitors a year and stretches across more than 3,400 square miles of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho, Wenk said.
If one or more cubs are ultimately linked to the death, the park will seek to place them at a facility for captive bears, he said.
The park reported two deadly attacks by grizzlies in 2011, both involving hikers. Prior to that, the last fatal mauling took place in 1986, he said.
Crosby, described as an experienced hiker, did not appear to be carrying bear spray, a form of pepper spray commonly used to repel bears.
The park advises visitors to carry bear spray, stay on designated trails, hike in groups of three or more and make noise to avoid surprise encounters with grizzlies.
Grizzly suspected in death of Yellowstone hiker trapped, may be killed | World |
Grizzly cub that attacked Yellowstone employee could be euthanized
Matthew Brown, Associated Press
First posted: Monday, August 10, 2015 10:49 PM EDT | Updated: Monday, August 10, 2015 10:55 PM EDT
BILLINGS, Mont. -- Two grizzly bears captured close to where a seasonal employee of Yellowstone National Park was killed could be euthanized if DNA tests determine they attacked the man, authorities said Monday.
Lance Crosby, 63, who worked as a nurse in the park's medical clinics, was hiking alone and without bear spray when he was killed, according to park officials. His body was discovered Friday by a park ranger about a half-mile from the nearest developed trail, hidden by the animals beneath pine needles and dirt.
Crosby, of Billings, Montana, was an experienced hiker and his wounds indicated he tried to fight back, officials said. But authorities advise visitors to carry mace-like bear spray and travel in groups.
Biologists set up a trap that snared an adult female bear at the scene that night. A cub was captured Monday, and biologists hoped to trap another cub after a camera recorded an image of two cubs in the area, Yellowstone spokeswoman Amy Bartlett said.
Park Superintendent Dan Wenk said the adult bear would be killed for public safety if DNA samples show it was involved in Crosby's death. The cubs first would be offered to a zoo or rehabilitation centre, but such placements are difficult and the animals likely would be killed if no permanent home is found, Bartlett said.
Crosby was the sixth person killed by grizzlies since 2010 in the greater Yellowstone area, which has an estimated 750 of the animals and includes the park and surrounding portions of Montana, Idaho and Wyoming.
Bears involved in fatal attacks are not always killed. That was the case in the 2011 death of a California tourist who ran, screaming, from an adult female grizzly with two cubs. Park officials determined the victim's actions helped trigger the attack and let the bears remain in the wild.
But when the same female bear was linked by DNA evidence to another hiker's killing, less than two months later, biologists caught and euthanized the animal, citing concern for public safety.
Wenk said the decision to kill a bear is made "based on the totality of circumstances."
Encounters between humans and grizzlies have risen in recent decades as the region's population of the federally protected threatened species has expanded. Relatively few run-ins lead to death or injury, and the probability of being attacked by a bear is only slightly greater than the chance of being struck by lightning, park officials say.
"At this point in time, I have no knowledge that it could have been avoided," Wenk said of Crosby's death. "He was in an area that's frequently used, a popular area that people went to. It's not like he was bushwhacking through dense forest."
His body was found off the Elephant Back Loop trail, near an area known as Lake Village. Bruising around puncture wounds on Crosby's forearms suggested he had tried to defend himself, officials said.
Members of the victim's family said through a park spokeswoman that they did not plan to release a statement or conduct interviews and asked that all media requests be directed to park officials.
Yellowstone receives more than 3 million visits a year from tourists who journey from around the world to view its geysers, other thermal features and abundant wildlife.
Hikers are advised to stay on trails, travel in groups of three or more, make noise to avoid surprise encounters and carry bear spray.
"It's an individual's personal choice to carry bear spray. It's something we highly recommend because it has been shown to be an effective deterrent in the case of a bear charge," Bartlett said.
Wildlife researchers from the park and other agencies responsible for grizzly management last year tallied 27 encounters between bears and people on backcountry trails across the Yellowstone region.
In only one case did a bear charge. More often, the animals fled or displayed no change in behaviour.
Grizzly cub that attacked Yellowstone employee could be euthanized | World | New
