Back in July, 47-year-old Amy Adamson was killed by a grizzly bear on a popular hiking trail near the town of West Yellowstone, Montana. Last Saturday, the 10-year-old bear that mauled Adamson was euthanized by Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP) after it entered a West Yellowstone home through the kitchen window.
The bear removed a container of dog food from the occupied home when it entered in the early morning hours of Sept. 2, FWP said in a press release issued yesterday. It’s 47-pound male cub also climbed into the home through the kitchen window.
“Later that evening, staff from Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks and local law enforcement captured the cub,” the press release states, “and with authorization from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, shot the adult grizzly near the captured cub due to an immediate public safety threat from the bear’s food-conditioned behavior.”
The agency then used genetic analysis and “other identifying characteristics” to link the bear to the July 22 mauling of Amy Adamson. Through that same testing they discovered that the adult grizzly was also responsible for biting a hiker on the stomach at Henry’s Lake State Park in nearby Idaho in 2020.
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“Both incidents were evaluated carefully at the time and deemed to be defensive responses by the bear,” FWP said. “Multiple efforts to trap and remove the bear were made after the fatal attack in July due to the incident’s proximity to residences, campgrounds, and high-use OHV trails. These efforts were unsuccessful.”
The captured cub is being held at an FWP wildlife rehabilitation facility in Helena, Montana and will be transferred to a zoo in the coming weeks, according to the press release.
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