Grizzly bear linked to US woman's death euthanised

Washington, Sep 7

A grizzly bear linked to a woman's death weeks ago in the US state of Montana has been euthanised, authorities said.

"A grizzly bear with a history of conflict with people was euthanised Saturday (September 2) after breaking into a house near West Yellowstone," the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks said in a statement on Wednesday.

A local resident reported a bear with a cub broke through a kitchen window of an occupied residence early morning on September 2.

Later that evening, staff from Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks and local law enforcement captured the cub and shot the adult grizzly due to an immediate public safety threat from the animal's food-conditioned behaviour, according to the statement.

"Through genetic analysis and other identifying characteristics, staff confirmed the bear was involved in a fatal attack on a woman near West Yellowstone in July. The bear was also involved in an encounter in Idaho that injured a person near Henrys Lake State Park in Idaho in 2020," it said.

The officials say that grizzly bear populations continue to become denser and more widespread in Montana, increasing the likelihood that residents and recreationists will encounter them in more places each year.

The woman's death is the 20th grizzly bear fatality recorded in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem since 1892, reported The Billings Gazette, a daily newspaper based in Montana.

Thirty-one grizzly bear deaths have been recorded in the region so far this year, 22 of which were human-caused, according to the report.