EBS STAFF
On Friday evening, July 11, Yellowstone National Park staff “lethally removed” an adult female black bear that had demonstrated food conditioning and human habituated behaviors and posed threats to human safety and camping equipment. The black bear’s removal marks the first since July 15, 2020.
A July 17 press release cited “a series of concerning incidents at a backcountry campsite located in the Blacktail Deer Creek drainage in the northern part of the park.” Incidents included crushing an unoccupied tent at the campsite on June 7, and climbing the site’s food storage pole and tearing down properly stored food bags on July 11.
“Although it is uncommon for bears in Yellowstone to obtain human food, when it does occur, bears can quickly become food-conditioned and may act aggressively or dangerously around humans, putting both people and wildlife at risk. The bear’s escalating behavior—including property damage and obtaining a significant food reward—posed a clear threat to visitor safety and warranted removal,” the release explained.
Kerry Gunther, Yellowstone bear management biologist, explained the difficult decision.
“We go to great lengths to protect bears and prevent them from gaining access to human food in all areas of the park,” Gunther stated. “But occasionally, a bear outsmarts us or overcomes our defenses. When that happens, we sometimes have to make the difficult decision to remove the bear from the population to protect people and property.” The release reinforced its bear management practices, with bear-resistant food storage tools present at all 293 backcountry campsites and policies requiring campers to hang or store their food. The release stated those policies ensure safety for both wildlife and humans.
