A hiker found over the weekend in Yellowstone is now thought to have been killed by a griz as evidenced by wounds to his arms in trying to fend off the attack.
A rough and tumble with a grizzly by H. Bullock Webster via Wiki
The victim worked for five years in the park as an EMT so it's not like he was unfamiliar with hiking in the area etc. The story in Wapo didn't give his name, probably trying to contact family still.
Already I detect a slight spin saying how long it has been since the last fatality. Actually in the Yellowstone ecosystem which is how you look at critter populations, they have one every year or so. Last year was a guy doing work over by Togwatee pass collecting scientific data for a company if memory serves me right. I camped in a tent over there a couple weeks ago, saw nothing, must be no bears eh? Park boundaries are not readily apparent to animals, there are no painted lines or anything.
Right now there is a typical controversy on whether to delist the griz (I'm not sure how many years scientists have been trying to do this, ten, maybe more). This weekend the Sierra Club and the Center for Biological Diversity put on an outdoor movie in Jackson replete with frolicking cubs and serious talks by experts on whitebark pine beetles and cutthroat trout food sources (nary a mention of hiker entrails) attended by a faithful 200.
I suspect the concept that grizzly bears don't exist on organic local fair trade berries probably comes to some as a revelation.
Similar to other large charismatic carnivores the listing of the grizzly bear was a political listing, not a biologic one. IUCN the international scientific listing agency for all species on earth gives them it's lowest designation "least concern" similar to sea gulls and blue birds. IUCN brown bear Called the brown bear worldwide they have a CITES I and II listing in central Asia.
Brown bears (griz) are actually more vulnerable to persecution than many species as they reproduce relatively slowly and have large territories, they are also one of the only large critters left in N America that have conflicts regularly with humans, and can become unpredictably, terribly, ferocious. Probably for that reason and the almost total lack of natural prey, a hundred years or so ago they were nearly extirpated (got rid of all) in the lower 48.
The interagency task force in charge of delisting in the Yellowstone ecosystem (share the heat) listed existing populations as being 600 for a few years. That was the magic number and they stuck with it for a while. Now they say six to eight hundred. I do know that they are still transporting problem griz to far flung locals so that they become someone else's problem. Any grizzlies killed by rangers or state Fish and Game officers get counted as human caused mortality and count against delisting, I've forgotten why, I'm sure it makes tons of sense.
Yellowstone is a funny place. It has a lot of country and a lot of people in the summer. Above Old Faithfull a couple weeks ago.
Yellowstone is one of the jewels of our National Parks, with it's wide and open grassy parklands it also supports large mammals that are visible from the roadside. This summer's number one idiot move has been selfies with bison. A few people have been gored and tossed about. I'm firmly convinced that almost all people, including those of a naturalist bent, can't differentiate between live animals and one on a computer screen.
When they trap and confirm via DNA that they have the bear (and cub) that preyed on the EMT, they will euthanize them both unless a cute name can be shared fast enough via social media so get your thinking caps on. Teddy is always popular, Tiny is always good conveying the feeling of the large but harmless beast of Beauty and the Beast. The reason they euthanize is that as widely claimed critters are smart, and these will always know they ate a human, and how good we taste. It has nought to do with "justice". We are natural prey of grizzly bears.
As long as we're on the blame game topic I should say I sure don't go for that blame the victim BS.
"oh if only he hadn't had chewing gum in his pocket the evil man".
"He should have been wearing cow bells and in a group of 30".
"I never go anywhere without my Casull Hand Cannon".
and so on. Humans and griz have been occupying the same spaces ever since we both immigrated here from Asia and sometimes we get sideways of each other. Sometimes you get the bear and sometimes the bear gets you.