A 72-year-old man in Montana was forced to shoot and kill a grizzly bear after it attacked him while he was picking huckleberries, resulting in injuries that required hospitalization.
The man was alone when the adult female bear charged at him in Flathead National Forest, located about 2 miles north of Columbia Falls in northwestern Montana.
Female grizzlies are known to be aggressive when defending their cubs, and it was uncertain if this particular bear had any offspring that it was protecting, according to Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks.
Additional details, including the man’s identity and current condition, were not provided by the wildlife agency.
In a separate incident near Yellowstone National Park, wildlife officials had to euthanize an adult female grizzly that had been entering residential areas in search of food, including pet food, garbage, and barbeque grills left outside by residents, leading to potential dangerous encounters with people.
Authorities typically attempt to relocate problem bears, but in cases where the bears continue to pose a threat, they are sometimes euthanized as a last resort.
The grizzly bear in the Yellowstone area was killed approximately 300 miles south of the attack near Columbia Falls. Grizzly bear populations in the region span across western Wyoming, eastern Idaho, and western Montana, while significant numbers can be found in the Canadian Rockies and Alaska.
Grizzly bears in the contiguous United States are considered a threatened species and are protected under the Endangered Species Act.
