Photo: OLIVIER MORIN/AFP/Getty Images
Montana wildlife officials reported Wednesday that the grizzly bear that fatally mauled a woman on a logging trail west of Yellowstone National Park in July and attacked a person in Idaho three years ago died after breaking into a home near West Yellowstone during the weekend.
Early Saturday morning, a homeowner reported that a bear with a cub had broken through a kitchen window and made off with a container of dog food, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks said in a statement.
Later, that day, agency workers captured the cub and shot the 10-year-old female with permission from the US Fish and Wildlife Service, because grizzly bears are protected under the Endangered Species Act.
Through genetic analysis and other identification factors, bear confirmed to have been involved in fatal July 22 attack on 48-year-old Amie Adamsona former teacher from Kansas, about 8 miles from West Yellowstone.
Back then, wildlife workers they set up bear traps to try to capture the animal, but efforts were unsuccessful.
The bear, which had been captured in 2017 for research purposes, was also involved in an attack in Idaho that injured one person near Henrys Lake State Park in 2020. The park is a 16-mile drive from West Yellowstone.
Both encounters with people are believed to have been defensive responses by the bear, authorities said.
The bear’s 46-pound male cub is being held at the state wildlife rehabilitation center in Helena while arrangements are made to move him to a zoo.
Bear attacks in Yellowstone
Grizzly bear populations in the northern Rocky Mountains of the US have grown significantly in recent years, and the animals have been turning up in places they haven’t been seen for generations.
Since 2010, grizzlies in and around Yellowstone have killed at least nine people. However, attacks remain relatively rare in the region, which attracts several million tourists each summer.
Encounters with humans can prove deadly for bears, too: A five-year-old female grizzly in Glacier National Park was euthanized last week after authorities said she had grown accustomed to eating food from campgrounds and was becoming increasingly more aggressive.
State officials last week warned visitors and residents about brown bear sightings throughout the state.“particularly in areas between the northern continental divide and the Greater Yellowstone ecosystems.”
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