Hiker mauled by grizzly in Grand Teton National Park played dead, officials say; bear won’t be pursued

A grizzly that by chance inflicted itself with a burst of pepper spray whereas attacking a hiker in Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park won’t be captured or killed as a result of it could have been making an attempt to guard a cub, park officials stated in a press release.

While mauling a hiker on Signal Mountain, the grizzly bit into the person’s can of bear repellent and was hit with a burst of it, inflicting the animal to flee. The 35-year-old Massachusetts man, who’d pretended to be lifeless whereas he was being bitten, made it to security and spent Sunday night time in the hospital.

There was no phrase when Signal Mountain or a highway and path to its 7,700-foot (2,300-meter) summit would reopen after being closed due to the assault. Such closures are typical after the handful of grizzly assaults on public land in the Yellowstone area yearly.

The determination to not pursue the bears, which officials decided behaved naturally after being stunned, additionally was in line with assaults that do not contain campsite raids, consuming meals unnoticed by individuals, or comparable behaviors that make bears extra harmful.

Rangers observe and examine lots of the Yellowstone area’s 1,000 or so bears however weren’t accustomed to those chargeable for the assault Sunday afternoon, in response to the assertion.

The assault occurred regardless that the sufferer was carrying bear-repellant spray and made noise to alert bears in the forest, the assertion stated.

Speaking to rangers afterward, the person stated he got here throughout a small bear that ran away from him. As he reached for his bear repellant, he noticed a bigger bear charging at him in his periphery imaginative and prescient.

He had no time to make use of his bear spray earlier than falling to the bottom with fingers laced behind his neck and one finger holding the spray canister.

The bear bit him a number of instances earlier than biting into the can of pepper spray, which burst and drove the bears away.

The man obtained to an space with mobile phone protection and referred to as for assist. A helicopter, then an ambulance evacuated him to a close-by hospital.

Investigators suspect from the person’s description that the smaller bear he noticed was an older cub belonging to the feminine grizzly that attacked. Mother bears aggressively defend their offspring and stay with them for 2 to a few years after delivery.

Park officials did not launch the sufferer’s title. He was anticipated to make a full restoration.

Recent grizzly assaults

The assault in Grand Teton National Park got here simply days after a person in Canada suffered “significant injuries” after being attacked by a grizzly bear whereas searching together with his father.

Last fall, a Canadian couple and their dog were killed by a grizzly bear whereas backpacking in Banff National Park. Just weeks earlier than that, a hunter in Montana was severely mauled by a grizzly bear. 

Last July, a grizzly bear fatally mauled a woman on a forest trail west of Yellowstone National Park. The bear was later euthanized after breaking right into a home close to West Yellowstone in August. 

Also that month, a 21-year-old lady who was planting timber was seriously injured by a bear in British Columbia. Canadian officials couldn’t find the animal however consider it was a grizzly bear that attacked the lady.

Grizzly bears in the 48 contiguous states are protected as a threatened species, in response to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.  

Last month, the U.S. National Park Service introduced it was launching a marketing campaign to capture grizzly bears in Yellowstone Park for analysis functions. The company urged the general public to keep away from areas with traps, which might be clearly marked