A year-old grizzly has been killed in a hit-and-run accident along the western border of Yellowstone National Park, marking the second time in a week motorists have run into bears in the park.
The hit-and-run occurred Sunday evening near the Fawn Pass Trailhead that lies along a stretch of U.S. 191 that runs from West Yellowstone to Bozeman, Montana, park officials said.
The bear's body was found along the road by a passing motorist, who reported the discovery. The person who hit the bear did not report the accident and no witnesses have come forward, so details of the accident are unknown, the park reported.
Tracks found at the scene indicate that an adult female and another yearling grizzly were in the immediate area of the accident but walked away apparently unharmed.
This is the first grizzly bear mortality reported in Yellowstone this year.
A female grizzly with three cubs was struck by a vehicle last week in Hayden Valley near the Mary Mountain Trailhead, and then ran into the backcountry. As a precaution, the trail was temporarily closed.
Members of the park’s bear management staff hiked the area Monday afternoon but found no sign of the sow or her cubs. A recent visitor report of the four bears in the Hayden Valley area remains unconfirmed. The Mary Mountain trail has been reopened.
It is estimated there are roughly 150 grizzlies with home ranges that include portions of the park; with around 600 believed to live in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.
More than 100 large animals are killed in the park each year after being struck by vehicles. Visitors are encouraged to look for and expect wildlife along the roadside, follow the posted speed limit, and increase caution at night or during poor weather.
Comments
It's important to slow down and observe the posted limits. Last June during a visit to Yellowstone I encountered a grizzly and cub in the middle of the road at 6:30 a.m. after having come around a curve. If I had not been driving at or below the posted limit I would have struck both bears.
My best guess is that a bear of that age would do considerable damage to the run of the mill car, wouldn't it?
Several years ago I discovered that when heading north to Bozeman that it was easier and usually quicker and safer, especially in winter, to turn off by Henry's Lake, Idaho, head over Raynolds Pass and go north through Ennis then cut east so I pass the Madison as it exits Beartrap Canyon. As I recall it is about 10 or 15 miles longer but you avoid the whole mess around Big Sky and, in winter, the black ice in Gallatin Canyon. In summer you avoid wonderstruck tourists! Just a suggestion of an easier way that also avoids that part of the park and its wildlife.
A grizzly was also hit in grand Teton np recently. This is a bad way to start the summer.