Damn those Grizzlies

Yellowstone National Park, August 26, hiker  John Wallace, 59, was found dead along the Mary Mountain Trail. An autopsy confirmed he was killed by  a grizzly  the day before he was found, according to information the park released Friday.  Now Yellowstone authorities report that they have captured a 450 p0und 25 year old male grizzly as the suspect.  DNA testing will be done to determine if this grizzly is the killer.  If confirmed, the grizzly will be killed.

There have been 2 deaths by grizzly so far this year in Yellowstone.  Heretofore, there have been seven deaths attributed to grizzly bear since the inception of Yellowtone in 1872.  About 3 million people visit Yellowstone annually and there is an average of 1 bear injury per year.  However, three of the deaths have been in the past year. 

Why will the bear be killed?  Isn’t that what bears do?  They are wild animals.  Stories of the west all include our heroes getting into life or death conflicts with grizzly bears.  It appears that man is trespassing on grizzly bear turf, not the other way around. 

As one of those geeks who has driven up the mountain in Yellowstone to gawk at grizzlies, I can attest to the fact that people are fools.  People set up tripods and move far away from their cars.   I have never seen anyone allow a bear as close as in the video, however.  That is just suicidal.   There is always a raft of tourists out watching the bears eat.  Even though it appears that the bears are  a great distance from you, it is still a good idea to be able to get to safety immediately.  A bear can always approach from a different direction, undetected.  I have also seen fools go out and stick a camera in the face of a buffalo.  People forget that wild animals are…WILD and unpredictable. 

Both of those killed were men in their late 50s.  They must think they are John Muir, going out on the trail, alone, to convene with nature.  All well and good but, they are going into bear territory and there are risks.  John Wallace did not have bear spray (mace) and the bear did not take his food.  

According to ABC News:

The Michigan man found dead last week, killed by a grizzly bear while hiking through Yellowstone National Park, died while visiting a place he loved, his family told ABC News.

Relatives of 59-year-old John Wallace told ABC that he’d told his wife in a voicemail last week that “being in Yellowstone was like being in heaven.”

I think I am opposed to these animals being killed for doing what wild animals do.  At what point to we just tell hikers trails are off limits.  Perhaps I could see it if grizzlies were picking off tourists out of the parking lot at Old Faithful.  Everything I have read says that the bear attacks have been deep in grizzyly territory, on the trails, not in more commercialized areas. 

Big crowds are expected over Labor Day Weekend at Yellowstone.  Apparently they don’t fear the grizzly.  Meanwhile those folks on trails need to have bear bells and bear spray to ward off grizzlies and black bears.  They also need to remember that they are the interlopers, not the bears. 

Let the grizzlies live. 

[Note: any time I bear watched they were at least a 100 yards away and I was 10 seconds from being in my car.]