A lady was discovered lifeless after “an obvious encounter with a bear” on a path close to West Yellowstone, Montana, officers mentioned in a press release Sunday, noting that grizzly bear tracks have been discovered on the scene.
The physique of the girl, whose identify and age haven’t been launched, was discovered Saturday on the Buttermilk Path west of West Yellowstone, a city of about 1,200 folks about one mile from Yellowstone Nationwide Park.
Officers at Custer Gallatin Nationwide Forest, a part of the Yellowstone ecosystem, issued an emergency closure for components west of West Yellowstone to handle what they described in a press release as “human security considerations” associated to bear exercise.
The circumstances of the girl’s dying have been unclear. Custer Gallatin Nationwide Forest and the Montana Division of Fish, Wildlife and Parks didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark Sunday night.
On Saturday morning, the Custer Gallatin Nationwide Forest warned on Fb that the Buttermilk Path and surrounding areas have been closed attributable to bear exercise.
Grizzly bears, that are a federally protected subspecies of brown bears within the decrease 48 states below the Endangered Species Act, roam all through Montana. Their populations have expanded throughout the state in recent times, and in some instances grizzlies have been noticed in locations they have not been seen in additional than a century, together with the Pryor Mountains, the place the species seemingly hasn’t been seen because the late 1800s, the Montana Division of Fish, Wildlife and Parks mentioned in a press release.
The enlargement “improves the long-term prospects for inhabitants sustainability” for the bears, nevertheless it additionally “poses new challenges” for Montana residents as a result of the animals can harm property or injure folks, the division mentioned.
Authorities have warned guests to “watch out”, prompting concern from some residents, who’ve reported rising sightings.
Grizzly bears are bigger than black bears, with adults measuring over eight toes when standing on their hind legs. The common weight of a grizzly bear is 400 to 500 kilos for males and 250 to 350 for females. And bears can run as much as 35 miles per hour.
Final month, the Montana Division of Fish, Wildlife and Parks launched an undated picture of a standing grizzly bear virtually as tall as a shed, its lengthy, curved claws slicing by means of items of wooden.
This month, the division mentioned a grizzly bear was captured and euthanized after having “a number of conflicts with folks” alongside a reservoir in Flathead County, about 380 miles northwest of West Yellowstone. The male grizzly bear was “fed and habituated” to folks, the division mentioned, which usually means the bears sought or obtained meals from folks, destroyed property or displayed aggressive habits in the direction of folks.
The probabilities of being attacked by a grizzly bear are extraordinarily uncommon, nonetheless. Since Yellowstone Nationwide Park was established in 1872, solely eight folks have been killed by bears within the park, most just lately in 2015, in response to the Nationwide Park Service. Since 1979, 44 folks have been injured by grizzly bears within the park, which has seen greater than 118 million guests throughout that point.
“Extra folks within the park have died of drowning (125 incidents) and burns (after falling into sizzling springs, 23 incidents) than folks killed by bears,” the service mentioned.
Nevertheless, the hazard is actual and the authorities have given a number of recommendation to the inhabitants of Montanans: carry and know how you can use a bear spray; journey in a bunch when potential and plan to exit throughout the day; keep away from carcass websites and concentrations of crows and different scavengers.
Authorities are additionally advising residents to look at for indicators of bears, reminiscent of torn logs and turned rocks, partially consumed animal carcasses and bear droppings. Guests to parks or trails also needs to make noise to alert bears to their presence, particularly when approaching streams or strolling by means of thick forest.
The ultimate piece of recommendation is easy: “Do not method a bear.”
A public assembly to debate the bears is scheduled for Monday night in Massive Timber, a city of about 1,600 folks greater than 90 miles north of Yellowstone.