A person who was choosing huckleberries on Flathead Nationwide Forest land Thursday night was charged and attacked by a grizzly sow. The 72-year-old, whose identification has not but been made public, shot and killed the bear along with his handgun, in response to a press release from Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks on Friday.
Few particulars have been launched in regards to the incident, although the sufferer’s accidents had been severe sufficient that he was hospitalized. No particulars in regards to the man’s situation or prognosis have been launched, however he was apparently lucid sufficient to contact authorities and clarify the encounter. The person instructed officers he was choosing berries alone about 2 miles north of Columbia Falls off the North Fork Highway when the sow charged.
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“FWP wardens and bear specialists responded to the incident and confirmed that an grownup feminine grizzly bear was killed,” the company wrote in its terse press release. “FWP is working to confirm if any cubs are current. FWP decided it to be a shock defensive encounter. No further data is obtainable right now.”
MFWP spokesperson Dillion Tabish told the Associated Press that wildlife officers had set out path cams to aim to substantiate the presence of cubs. Even when the cameras do doc younger grizzly cubs within the space, Tabish stated he’s unsure if they’d be captured as a result of it’s tough to seek out rehabilitation amenities which can be certified to simply accept them.
“Relying on the age [of any cubs we find,] we’d depart them within the wild as a result of they’ve a greater probability of survival, reasonably than must euthanize them,” Tabish instructed the AP.
Grizzlies have a slower reproductive fee than black bears, and it’s attainable she didn’t have younger cubs this season. As soon as grizzly sows attain breeding age (between three and eight years of age) they provide beginning each three to 4 years into their mid-20s, according to the University of Montana. A grizzly’s common litter dimension is 2 cubs, although particular person litters can vary from one to 4 cubs. Cubs often stick with the sow for 2 to a few years earlier than dispersing.
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That is the second recognized grizzly assault within the Decrease 48 this yr. In Could, a backcountry hiker in Wyoming’s Grand Teton Nationwide Park was attacked by a sow shortly after encountering a cub. He deployed bear spray, which he credit for saving his life, and was hospitalized for days with extreme accidents to his leg, again, and hand. Final yr there have been at the very least two high-profile grizzly assaults in Montana, with a trail runner dying from a bear attack in West Yellowstone and a man loosing part of his jaw to a griz in Massive Sky.
