Killer grizzly bear suspect captured
Rangers at Yellowstone National Park have captured a grizzly bear they say could be the one that killed a hiker at the park on Friday.
On Monday, the park identified the victim as Lance Crosby, 68, of Billings, Mont. Park officials said Crosby was not carrying bear spray, a type of pepper spray, at the time of the attack.
Rangers believe a female grizzly bear killed Crosby then fed on his remains. Autopsy results had not been released.
Yellowstone’s Julena Campbell told USA TODAY a female grizzly bear was caught early Saturday after rangers set up traps in the area hours after finding the victim’s body Friday. Park officials will complete several tests to identify the bear as the one involved in the killing.
Tests include matching the shape and size of the bear tracks to ones found in the area and comparing the bear’s DNA to that found on the victim’s body. Campbell said that park officials sent DNA evidence to a lab Monday morning for testing and that results will come in the next few days.
If officials identify the bear as the one suspected of the attack, the bear will be euthanized.
“We don’t have any way of knowing the circumstances that led up to this one,” Campbell said. “But we do know after she killed him, she was consuming him. She will be euthanized because of the facts that she was feeding on the person.”
Crosby was found at noon Friday in a popular off-trail area near Elephant Back Loop Trail in Wyoming. Rangers found his body “partially consumed” and covered.
The victim was a frequent and experienced hiker and a seasonal employee at Medcor, a company that manages three urgent-care clinics.
Park rangers found evidence that a female grizzly bear and at least one of her cubs were in the same area that the body was found.
Though rangers caught a female adult grizzly bear, they have yet to find any cubs. Campbell said the park hopes to find the cubs as they will not be able to survive as orphans.
She said any orphaned cubs found would either be turned over to a zoo or would also have to be euthanized.