A 72-year-old man in Montana shot and killed a grizzly bear that attacked and injured him while he was picking huckleberries. The man was alone when the adult female bear charged at him in Flathead National Forest, north of Columbia Falls. He used a handgun to defend himself, according to Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks.
Female grizzlies are known to be aggressive when defending their cubs, but it is unclear if this bear had any with her. The man’s identity and condition have not been disclosed by the department.
Meanwhile, another adult female grizzly was shot and killed by Fish, Wildlife & Parks staff near Gardiner after it had become a threat to human safety by seeking out food from people and breaking into houses. The bear was shot in Yellowstone River, where it had been accessing pet food, garbage, and barbeque grills left outdoors.
Grizzly bears are a protected species in the U.S. and efforts are made to relocate problem bears, but sometimes lethal measures are necessary. The incidents in Columbia Falls and Gardiner are about 300 miles apart. There are an estimated 2,000 grizzlies in western Wyoming, eastern Idaho, and western Montana, with thousands more in the Canadian Rockies and Alaska.
Grizzly bears in the contiguous U.S. are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.
Reporting by Gruver from Cheyenne, Wyoming.
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