The morning sun illuminates the Grand Tetons at Grand Teton National Park, north of Jackson Hole, Wyo., Aug. 26, 2016. A grizzly bear that attacked a hiker in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming will not be neither captured nor killed by wildlife authorities because he may have been trying to protect a cub, park officials said in a statement Tuesday.
Brennan Linsley/AP
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Brennan Linsley/AP
A grizzly bear who accidentally sprayed himself with pepper spray while attacking a hiker in Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park will not be captured or killed because he may have been trying to protect a cub, park officials said in a statement.
While mauling a hiker on Signal Mountain, the grizzly bit into the man’s can of bear repellent and was struck by a gust, causing the animal to flee. The 35-year-old Massachusetts man, who pretended to be dead while being bitten, got to safety and spent Sunday evening in the hospital.
It was unclear when Signal Mountain or a road and trail leading to its 7,700-foot (2,300-meter) summit would reopen after being closed due to the attack. Such closures are typical after the few grizzly bear attacks on public lands in the Yellowstone region each year.
The decision not to pursue the bears, which authorities determined were behaving naturally after being startled, was also consistent with attacks that do not involve raids on campsites, eating food left out by people or similar behaviors that make bears more dangerous.
Rangers are tracking and studying many of the approximately 1,000 bears in the Yellowstone region, but do not know who was responsible for Sunday afternoon’s attack, according to the release.
The attack occurred while the victim was carrying bear spray and making noise to alert bears in the forest, the release said.
Then speaking to the rangers, the man declared that he had encountered a small bear which had escaped. As he reached for his bear spray, he saw a larger bear charging at him in his peripheral vision.
He didn’t have time to use his bear spray before falling to the ground with his fingers crossed behind his neck and one finger holding the spray can.
The bear bit him several times before biting into the pepper spray can, which exploded and chased the bears away.
The man went to an area covered by cell phones and called for help. A helicopter, then an ambulance evacuated him to a nearby hospital.
Investigators suspect, based on the man’s description, that the smallest bear he saw was an older cub belonging to the female grizzly bear that attacked. Mother bears aggressively defend their offspring and stay with them for two to three years after birth.
Park officials have not released the victim’s name. He was expected to make a full recovery.
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