Did photographer bait grizzly in (near to) Yellowstone attack?

[RamboLiberal]

A week after a rampaging grizzly mauled a Michigan man to death and injured two other campers near Yellowstone National Park - and amid news that a black bear has been euthanized in another part of the park - officials are investigating allegations that a photographer had been baiting wildlife with food.

According to TV station KTVQ in Billings, a viewer said the host of a campground near Cooke City raised concerns that someone may have been baiting bears two weeks earlier. At the same time, says KTVQ, similar information was posted on an unofficial Yellowstone National Park Facebook page. A spokesman for Montana's Fish Wildlife & Parks department told the station his agency is investigating.

"The key here is that these are just allegations," notes the Yellowstone Insider. " Baiting animals for the purpose of close-up photography and videography is a serious matter; it's illegal and is usually bad news for the animal, who becomes accustomed to human food and handouts. When the handouts end, the animals are left to figure out why - and that's when bad things happen. The baiting would explain why the bear kept coming back to Soda Butte Campground, seven miles outside the northeast entrance to Yellowstone, even after the killing."

This morning, the Associated Press reports that an aggressive black bear habituated to human food has been euthanized in Yellowstone. The adult female had been seen frequenting a backcountry campsite in the north-central portion of the park. Since the bear had learned to associate people with food, rangers determined it posed a threat to the safety of park visitors.

http://travel.usatoday.com/destinations/dispatches/post/2010/08/bear-attack-grizzlies-yellowstone/104132/1

If so the clown should be brought up on criminal charges!

[joeybee12]

1. This does not surprise me at all...

...the idea that NOTHING provoked that grizzly was way too far-fetched.

If true, the photographer needs to have criminal charges filed against him...try murder...one person did die because of this.

[BrklynLiberal]

6. That is true..perhap-s criminally negligent homicide would fit the bill.

[Arctic Dave]

2. He should be brought up on charges.

If he did do this he should be charged with reckless endangerment. Bears are very aggressive when defending their food sources.

Remember: "A fed bear is a dead bear".

[BrklynLiberal]

3. Personally, if true, I think the photographer should be fed to a couple of bears.

Oh no..then the would get used to the taste of human flesh and have to be "euthanized". Too bad.
I cannot think of a punishment harsh enough that it would adequately fit the crime.

[FBaggins]

4. A bear won't attack unless it is provoked.

The key here though... is that it's the bear who gets to decide what constitutes provocation.

[uppityperson]

5. Thanks for posting this, was just checking out articles on it. I agree, if true, criminal charges

should be brought. The black bear that was just killed was a danger to people, getting way to habituated and it is really unfortunate. I am glad that many of the bear accessible garbage dumps have been made less accessible.

I am still looking for, waiting for, them to release info on why the bears involved in the campground attack were all underweight with winter coats still on. The mother was a 10 yr old, not sure why they were like this.

So, k&r for more on the whys.

[Xithras]

7. My wife came face to face with a black bear in Yosemite on Sunday.

We were up there camping and she crawled out of the tent to go use a bathroom at about 4AM (developed camping area). She came out of the bathroom and was walking down a short stretch of road along a creek when she looked up and saw a large black bear standing on the road about 15 feet in front of her.

The bear sniffed the air, grunted, turned, and walked off. It had no interest in her.

Black bears like easy prey, and humans are NOT easy prey. UNless they're sick or injured, they're rarely a threat.

[liberal N proud]

8. Trying to get that great grizzly shot

Nothing would surprise me.

[sinkingfeeling]

9. Does anybody have an update on the fate of the grizzlies? I read that the cubs might be

spared and sent to zoos, but haven't seen anything this week.

[uppityperson]

10. cubs are in quarantine at a zoo in Montana, mother was killed.

zoomontana (or some such) said they will keep the 3 yearlings.

[inthefurwest]

11. it is a tragedy

that these folks were attacked, especially at that hour of the night while asleep, they truly had no chance. I talked with a game biologist this morning and the cubs seem to be doing ok in the zoo there in billings. he indicated that the bears were all showing the same symptoms that the rest of the keystone predators in and around the park are showing. malnutrition. This definitely was not brought on by anyone baiting, he says their are just to many predators for the feed thats available and with the drought conditions not helping things their is going to be a crash in ungulate population soon, they are seeing it in the lolo area of idaho already.
http://howlcolorado.org/2010/03/02/idaho-seeks-to-pin-blame-for-elk-herd-decline-on-wolves/