Wyoming Game and Fish Department agents killed a black bear that tried to enter two women’s tents in the Bighorn Mountains and then subsequently entered other camps in early July.
One of the women who was initially attacked told Cowboy State Daily on Friday that she was saddened but relieved to hear that the bear had been killed.
The Same Bear
Game and Fish personnel responded to a report of a black bear in a camp on Forest Road 15 in the Bighorns late on July 23.
“The reporting party said the bear had frequented the area for multiple nights, accessing food and showing a notable lack of fear of humans in the area,” according to Game and Fish. “When the bear returned to the camp that night, it was killed by department personnel, and a tissue sample was sent to the Wyoming Game and Fish Wildlife Forensic Laboratory in Laramie.”
On Wednesday, lab results confirmed it was the same bear that had “attempted to enter two tents while they were occupied” late July 5 at another camp off Forest System Road 178 near Fool Creek, according to Game and Fish.
The distance between the two camp sites is approximately 4.5 air miles.
‘I’m Sure Glad They Put An End To It’
Shonna Kaye Dehl of Lovell and Maggie Bassett of Powell previously told Cowboy State Daily the bear drove them out of their camp and then returned and trashed their tents.
In a text message to Cowboy State Daily on Friday, Bassett reacted to the bear being killed.
“I’m sorry it had to be killed, but I’m sure glad they put an end to it before someone got hurt,” she wrote. “Unfortunately, even with the bear being gone, I can’t imagine ever sleeping in a tent again, which is one of the only ‘fun’ things I do. This whole thing just sucks.”a m
‘Food Conditioned’
Dehl and Bassett described the bear as a large adult, probably a male. Game and Fish did not provide any information about the age, size and sex of the bear it killed.
After the first attack, Game and Fish tried to trap the bear near Fool Creek. The traps were removed on July 8.
A person or people removed warning signs around the trap area and also might have “interfered with the opportunity to capture the bear” by getting too close to the traps, according to Game and Fish.
“The reported behavior of the bear during the two conflicts suggests it was food-conditioned and had likely received human-provided food rewards in the past. Food-conditioned bears can become destructive and dangerous in their attempts to obtain human food,” Game and Fish said.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
