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STILL, BEAR'S MAULINGS NEAR YELLOWSTONE PUZZLE WILDLIFE OFFICIALS
Grizzly in maulings near Yellowstone was stressed, had parasites
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By MATTHEW BROWN - Associated Press writer | Posted: Tuesday, August 17, 2010 1:15 am | (9) Comments

BILLILNGS, Mont. -- A grizzly bear that mauled three campers outside Yellowstone National Park had parasites and was struggling to feed her cubs, according to a report released Monday. But state and federal wildlife investigators said those factors alone were not enough to explain such predatory behavior.

"We looked at food habits, body condition of the bear, past behaviors -- none of those stand out as a reason that would indicate why this bear would do this," said investigation leader Chris Servheen with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Kevin Kammer, 48, of Grand Rapids, Mich., was killed and two people were hospitalized when the 216-pound grizzly tore into their tents in a nighttime attack July 28.

The bear was captured a day later at the Soda Butte Campground near Cooke City, Mont., then was euthanized. Its three cubs are now in a Billings zoo.
DNA tests on strands of hair found at the campground linked the mother bear to the attacks. Tests for rabies and other diseases came back negative following a necropsy.

Investigators blamed a vegetarian diet on the mother grizzly's poor body condition, which they said was "made worse by a load of parasites found in her small intestine."

There was no sign the bear had become habituated to humans, which is often to blame when bears have run-ins with people. It had been sighted around the Cooke City area at least twice, but the necropsy results showed no signs the bear had eaten human food over the last two years.

Call me naive, but the word BEAR keeps popping out at me there.

Investigators blamed a vegetarian diet on the mother grizzly's poor body condition, which they said was "made worse by a load of parasites found in her small intestine."

Bear must have been a bad hunter.

Bears are unpredictable. Plan accourdingly and enjoy.

This is completely lost on some people;the bears are supposed to fit preconceived notions and media stereotypes of non-aggressive,cuddly oafs that will never harm a human unless strange and obscure factors compel it do so.......Some folks can't accept that bears kill stuff.....sometimes for reasons we can't comprehend.

With this statement:

Investigators blamed a vegetarian diet on the mother grizzly's poor body condition, which they said was "made worse by a load of parasites found in her small intestine."

I wonder if it occured to the investigator that the damn bear might just have been hungry.

BCR

I'd still wager that one, if not both, of the female humans in those encounters was having or very close to having her period.

The bear was hungry. Period!

The bear was wanting to eat those folks, not screw 'em.

The old saying "If it bleeds you can kill it" applies to Griz too.

That sure could be....happened before out west.VA when was that?

exactly where 90% of our wildlife/people problems come from. the Disney channel.
but this ain't Disney world. i like having bears around and i have lived in bear country all my life without much worry, but the lack of common sense and training about wildlife in general is the root of most problems.

I wonder if the guy that was killed was near his period??? Bears do survive very heavily on vegetation. I watched a grizzly last month have a great picnic near a road last month in BC. Bear was having a great time.

I just yesterday got back from King Salmon Alaska where bear encounters are almost a daily occurrence, sometimes with really big bears. The good folks living up there know that bears are potentially dangerous and live their lives accordingly. They own big dogs, don't do a lot of walking near the river banks after dark etc. The local we were salmon fishing with said he couldn't remember anyone being killed by a bear in King Salmon. I believed him but after seeing a huge bear just outside our back door, I stayed inside after dark out of an abundance of caution.