A female grizzly bear with a cub that was initially left alone to go free after killing a hiker in July was shot and killed by wildlife agents late Saturday after it broke into a house in West Yellowstone, Montana.
The grizzly’s 46-pound male cub was captured and sent to a wildlife rehabilitation center in Helena, Montana, according to the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Department.
Genetic analysis and “other identifying characteristics” confirmed that the 10-year-old female was the same grizzly that killed 47-year-old Amie Adamson of Kanas in July. Her body was found along the Buttermilk Trail, roughly 8 miles from West Yellowstone.
Investigators surmised that Adamson must have surprised the grizzly and her cub at close range while on an early morning run on the trail.
More Trouble
After searching the area for a few days after the attack, wildlife officials at the time opted to stop trying to find the bear, which they figured had probably left the area and likely was no longer a threat to humans.
However, a West Yellowstone homeowner called early Saturday to report that a grizzly with a cub had broken through a kitchen window of their house to get at a container of dog food inside, according to FWP.
FWP agents and local law enforcement officers captured the cub that evening. And after getting clearance from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, they shot and killed the female grizzly.
This is the third grizzly shot and killed recently in Montana.
In late August, two hunters shot and killed a charging female grizzly near Whitefish and in the chaos, one of the hunters accidentally shot and wounded the other. And when a male grizzly charged at two anglers in thick cover along Tom Miner Creek near Livingston, Montana, one of the anglers shot and killed that bear.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
