72-Year-Old Man Fights Back, Kills Aggressive Grizzly Bear That Attacked Him While He Was Picking Berries
A 72-year-old man fought off and killed a grizzly bear that attacked him while he was picking blueberries in Montana.
The man, who has not been identified, was alone on national forest land when the adult female lunged at him Thursday, leaving him with serious injuries, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks officials said.
During the fight, he managed to fire a handgun and kill the bear before being rushed to a local hospital.
The bear was likely a mother trying to defend her cubs, agency spokesman Dillon Tabish said. Wildlife workers have begun searching the area for cubs, but if any are found, it’s unclear whether the orphaned animals will be captured and placed in captivity.
“Depending on their age, we might leave them in the wild because they have a better chance of survival, rather than having to euthanize them,” Tabish said.
The attack took place in the Flathead National Forest, about 2 miles north of Columbia Falls, a town in northwest Montana with a population of about 5,500, according to the state wildlife agency.
The same day the man was attacked, Fish, Wildlife & Parks shot and killed an adult female grizzly bear that had been breaking into homes and stealing food around the town of Gardner, just north of Yellowstone National Park.
No one was injured by the bear, which was shot in the Yellowstone River, about 300 miles south of the attack in the Columbia Falls area.
The bear had become accustomed to finding food in garbage and barbecue grills left outside, the department said.
Wildlife managers sometimes capture and relocate grizzlies known to cause problems for humans. But they will kill bears involved in predatory attacks on humans or if they are considered likely to continue causing problems even if they are moved to another area.
About 2,000 grizzlies roam western Wyoming, eastern Idaho and western Montana, while several thousand more inhabit the Canadian Rockies and Alaska.
Grizzly bears, which can weigh up to 700 pounds (317 kg), are listed as threatened in the contiguous United States under the Endangered Species Act.
Rocky Mountain state officials are lobbying federal authorities to lift their protected status, which could open the door to future hunting.
With pole wires
