Separate bear attacks blamed for fatality, injuries Play Video
Posted: Jul 28, 2010 11:10 AM
Updated: Jul 30, 2010 6:31 AM
COOKE CITY - Additional information is being released in connection with a fatal bear attack which happened near Yellowstone Park on Wednesday morning.
State wildlife officials say that two people were injured and one person was killed in separate bear attacks that occurred at the Soda Butte Campground.
Park County Sheriff's Department dispatch records show that a Park County Sheriff's deputy and a Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks game warden were dispatched to the area at about 2:30 a.m. Wednesday and Investigators found a man dead at the campground about two hours later.
Two other people, a male and a female, were reportedly bitten and later treated at a hospital in Cody, Wyoming. The identities of the victims have not been released.
FWP officials, in cooperation with the Gallatin National Forest, the National Park Service and the Park County Sherriff's Office spent much of the day at the site collecting forensic evidence of the attacks.
Officials from the agencies plan to hold a community meeting at the Cooke City Chamber of Commerce on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. to discuss the incident.
"The camp sites are being combed for evidence," said FWP spokesman Ron Aasheim "We're not certain if it was one bear or more than one, and we haven't determined if it was a grizzly or black bear. We've extracted DNA samples from evidence found on site. This will help us identify the bear or bears involved, once captured."
Officials say that tents were ripped or damaged during the attacks but no food was found in the tent of the dead man or in the tents of the two injured victims. "Everyone appeared to have followed all food storage regulations," Aasheim said.
The Soda Butte Campground, the nearby Chief Joseph and Colter campgrounds, also in the Gallatin National Forest, are closed.
"This is not typical bear behavior. It's odd. It's not normal," Aasheim said.
FWP officials have set a number of traps in anticipation of the animal's return on Wednesday night.
(first report)
Montana wildlife officials are investigating a bear mauling in the Cooke City area that claimed the life of one person.
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Spokesman Ron Aasheim says one man was killed and two other people were injured after a bear attacked the campers at the Soda Butte Campground east of Cooke City early Wednesday morning.
Authorities say the incident happened between midnight and 2 a.m. and believe that only one bear is involved.
Aasheim says the male was found dead in a tent, his identity has not been released. Another male was bitten on the leg and was taken to the hospital in Cody, Wyoming. A woman suffered injuries to her arms.
FWP and the Park County Sheriff's Office are on the scene investigating and taking witness statements. Due to poor cell phone service in the area, additional details on the mauling have been difficult to get.
The Soda Butte Campground is in the Gallatin National Forest near the northeastern entrance of Yellowstone National Park, about 125 miles southwest of Billings.
The same campground was the site of a 2008 attack in which a grizzly bear bit and injured 59-year-old Steven Bartley of Springfield, Oregon while he was sleeping in a tent.
A young adult female grizzly was captured in a trap four days after the attack and transported to a bear research center at Washington State University in Pullman.
