The Mighty Grizzly

The female grizzly is the most protective mother mammal. They will fight to their death to defend their cubs from any threat, even male grizzlies twice their size. The most dangerous situation is when a female grizzly is surprised when with their cubs. On July 6, 2011, two hikers from Southern California were visiting Yellowstone Park, hiking a popular trail, when they came across a female with two cubs. In a blink of an eye, the female grizzly sought to remove her perceived threat, lashing out at the hikers. Because she was surprised the mama grizzly immediately reacted to protect her cubs, charging the male hiker, dispatching him in a second and then turning to the man’s wife, she grabbed the women by her backpack and flung her into the air. The mother grizzly then ran off with her cubs, now safely protected, back into the woods. While the hikers meant no harm to the bears, unintended surprise is what killed one and left the other with nightmares for the rest of her life. Remember, a grizzly can crush the skull of a moose with a simple swipe of the paw. A grizzly’s jaws can also slice through tree limbs thicker than a man’s arm and cover a hundred feet in less than three seconds. So, the wayward hikers who surprised the mama bear and her cubs had little chance. Always make noise, sing, chant, call out, etc. when in grizzly country. Grizzlies do not want encounters with humans, and they will try and avoid an encounter, so making noise is one of the best defenses in avoiding a bear attack.

This was the first human kill by a grizzly in the Yellowstone in 25 years. The Park Rangers deserve praise for avoiding a knee-jerk reaction and choosing to not kill the female bear. Instead they made the reasoned, measured decision to let her live, because she was just doing as nature intended, protecting her young. While our condolences go out to the family, the hiker died in the spirit of the wilderness, and his story will be remembered and told around the campfire.