It didn't take long - less than seven or eight minutes - to kill the grizzly. First, she was immobilized with a drug, and then the equivalent of a shot to her brain, and it was over. The killing brought an end to this bear which attacked, and partially consumed, a hiker in Yellowstone National Park. But the controversy, fanned by Social Media comments, lives on.

Grizzly bears and humans can, and do, co-exist in Yellowstone, but on an uneasy footing. Visitors to the park are handed pamphlets and newspapers which give warning about Yellowstone's wildlife, and how to avoid attacks. But it's not always followed. Lance Crosby, the 63-year-old Montanan who was killed by the grizzly, apparently didn't heed those warnings, at least on that day. When he died on August 7 on a trail above Lake Village, he was hiking alone and without bear spray, according to investigators.

When Yellowstone biologists captured the grizzly they believed to be responsible, they said it would be euthanized if DNA evidence linked it to Mr. Crosby's death. The news filled Social Media channels, as folks urged the park to spar the bear.  Author and conservationist Terry Tempest Williams urged her followers on Facebook to call the park, and ask that the bear be saved, as did writer Doug Peacock. Jane Goodall reached out to Yellowstone Superintendent Dan Wenk with the same request.

Then there were the countless, and often nameless, followers of the incident who reached out to the park, some angry and intimidaing, with demands that the bear and her two cubs be saved.

****

We holed up in our tents most of the day under a light rain, delaying our plans to hike across The Promontory from the South Arm of Yellowstone Lake to the Southeast Arm. We wanted to take a look at the Molly Islands and the birds that spend time there. Early fall wasn't the best of time for birding, but we wanted to see the Southeast Arm regardless. 

But the rain persisted, and we spent the hours dozing and reading and dozing some more. When the rain finally ceased and the sky began to clear, I stuck my head out of the tent and immediately spotted the bear. The grizzly was maybe 300 yards off, working a meadow over with its claws for a meal.

Jim popped his head out of his tent, and I whispered "bear," and pointed to the meadow. Jim wasn't particularly keen about encountering a bear in the backcountry of Yellowstone, and thought I was kidding. Then he realized that I wasn't and took a look. And we just stood there, and marveled.

After a while, we went down to the "kitchen area" of our camp, a good distance from the tents, and worked on lighting a campfire for warmth and to cook dinner. The bear ignored us. Even the whacking of inch-thick branches on a log to break them up for the fire didn't outwardly affect the bear, nor the bratwursts that were soon sizzling over an open flame.

But we made sure bear spray was close at hand when we headed back to the tents of the night.

****

On July 6, 2011, 58-year-old Brian Matayoshi, of Torrance, Calif., was out for an early morning hike with his wife on the Wapiti Lake Trail near Canyon Village when he was run down and killed by a sow grizzly.

According to an investigation of the mauling, "Mr. and Mrs. Matayoshi encountered a female grizzly with 2 cubs at a distance estimated at 100 yards…but [this distance] is impossible to substantiate. The Matayoshi's turned around when they saw the grizzly. Soon after they turned they began to run away from the bear along the trail through the timber. They were yelling and screaming as they ran away from the bear."

The report went on, "What possibly began as an attempt by the bear to assess the Matayoshi's activities became a sustained pursuit of them as they fled running and yelling on the trail. In addition to the unfortunate circumstance of being at the wrong place at the wrong time, a possible contributing factor to the chase that ensued was that the victims ran from the bear while screaming and yelling."

Investigators note that while the adult grizzly attacked Mr. Matayoshi when it caught up with him, Mrs. Matayoshi escaped injury. She had attempted to hide behind a downed tree about five yards beyond her husband. When she made eye contact with the bear and then looked down, the bear "came over to her as she lay prone on her stomach, picked her by her backpack, and then dropped her."

In the end, the investigators determined the grizzly was exhibiting normal defensive behavior.

Two months later, on August 25, John L. Wallace, of Chassell, Michigan, set out for a day hike on the Mary Mountain Trail about 7:30 a.m. He apparently had stopped for a snack or perhaps a drink of water about 5 miles from the trailhead when he was attacked by a grizzly.

The 59-year-old tried to ward off the grizzly, as evidenced by lacerations an punctures on his right forearm, the investigators determined.

The attack occurred in an area of mixed lodgepole pine, meadows, and rolling hills that the trail passes through. A father and daughter out hiking the trail the following day found his body, which had been cached under duff and debris, a common practice of bears intent on returning to a kill.

The attack was the second fatal mauling in the park in 2011 and marked the first time anyone could recall two fatal maulings in one year in Yellowstone. What also was unusual was that the sow that killed Mr. Matayoshi also partially consumed Mr. Wallace, according to DNA evidence. For that the sow was captured and killed, her cubs turned over to the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center in West Yellowstone.

"The presence of bloody adult and cub tracks suggests that the adult female that killed Mr. Matayoshi and one of her offspring were likely involved in the consumption of Mr. Wallace's body," the report noted. "However, there could have been other bears involved in the consumption of Mr. Wallace."

****

Lance Crosby was out for a morning hike before heading to work at the medical clinic at Lake. He had spent five seasons in the job, and was familiar with Yellowstone. The trail he travelled - the Elephant Back Loop - was a popular one with both park employees based at Lake and with guests staying at the Lake Hotel, Lake Lodge and Cabins, and nearby Bridge Bay Campground. It was less than four miles in length, though a nearby ridge accessed from the trail was a popular spot with employees.

Crosby had gone out by himself, dressed in long pants, a T-shirt with a long-sleeved collared shirt on top of that, and hiking boots. He was not carrying bear spray; friends said "he thought bear spray would make him complacent, less vigilant while he was out there. He wanted to use his senses, his vigilance," Kerry Gunther, Yellowstone's bear management biologist, said the other day. 

When he died, Crosby was in an area less than a half-mile from the nearest road, and less than a mile from housing.

When he failed to show up for work that morning, his co-workers reported him overdue and a search got under way with park staff across Yellowstone informed to be on the lookout for Crosby. One ranger who went up the Elephant Back Loop spotted the man's boots protruding from the "burial cache" a bear had left him in, and immediately headed back to Lake for more support, said Gunther.

"When we hiked in, the bear was at the body, we heard the cubs bawl," Gunther said. "We didn’t actually see the cubs, we heard them bawl and saw the adult bear run away.”

That night, a female grizzly was captured, and park officials said she would be put down if DNA linked her to the partially consumed body. And then all hell broke out on Social Media channels, as people called for the bear to be spared, arguing that she was only acting like a bear and most likely defending her cubs.

Park officials, from the superintendent and Gunther down to communications staff, received intimidating and threatening calls and emails. It was a complete opposite to the public pushback the park received when the decision was made in 2011 to put down the sow that was linked by DNA to Mr. Wallace's body.

"We got a slight bit of phone calls and emails (in 2011), but not as much as we got this time," recalled Gunther. "The Social Media stuff was quite a bit less last time. This time, almost more hate mail. Last time it was people disagreeing with the decision, but not so threatening like the stuff we got this time."

Those who claimed that Crosby had been on a trail run, or tried to run away once he spotted the bear, simply were wrong, the biologist said.

“I think the National Park Service, we’re always a step behind with technology because of budgets. I think maybe we need to monitor Social Media better and come up with a strategy to get the truth out there, because there were certain people putting out a lot of false information," said Gunther. "I think some people were doing it intentionally. It’s sort of what ISIS does. You can stir people up on Social Media. It’s almost a form of terrorism. You can get a lot of people and some crazy people stirred up by what you post on there.

"People were posting stuff like he was jogging, he ran from the bear, he fought back, all kinds of stuff like that that just wasn’t true," he went on. "And these people, they weren’t there, they weren’t part of the investigaiton, they were just making it up. The federal government is kind of at a deficit with that kind of stuff. The federal government is easy to criticize, an easy target. It’s just hard to defend ourselves against that. A lot of people just mistrust the federal government, it's all a conspiracy theory."

While officials can't say he didn't try to run, there's no evidence to support that. 

"There was no witnesses. There was very little evidence, very little sign at the scene other than right where the body was," Gunther said. "So there was not any evidence of a drag trail or flight. Social Media was saying that he was a jogger. Well, there was no evidence of that. The evidence we have suggests that he wasn’t. Social Media said that he ran from the bear, we have no way to know that. There wasn’t a path of disturbed ground that made it look like he was running or scrambling away. There was very little blood spatter evidence, other than right at the body. So it all seems to have happened in a small, compact area.”

What they did find was evidence that the grizzly had been digging mushrooms in the area, which might suggest she was surprised by the hiker and concerned for her cubs. 

While some have voiced the opinion that just because a bear consumes a human doesn't mean it will turn into a maneater, Gunther isn't about to test that theory. You can imagine the lawsuit that would result if the grizzly was set free and killed another hiker.

"Bears, they eat a lot of different foods, they are omnivore generalists," he said. "Most foods they eat, they’re taught by their mother, but they’re curious and exploratory and they do learn new foods. And they also, they’re a very food-motivated species because they do spend five months or more hibernating. They have very good memories as far as seasonal timing and locations of foods. I can’t prove it, but I don't think a bear ever forgets a food. They have great memories."

As for the cubs and those who say they should be released back into the park, the biologist said, "(T)hey learn most of the foods they’re going to eat from their mom, and the last food their mom taught them was people. We just don’t feel we can take that risk.”

****

Four bear incidents, three deaths, and one encounter from a distance that left only incredible memories of a Yellowstone vacation.

How can you tell by looking at a bear what it will do, both before an incident, and after one occurs?

Yellowstone officials encourage backcountry travelers to hike in groups of three or more, to carry bear spray, and how to respond to an encounter. Those who travel in the backcountry overnight must sit through a video presentation of how to behave and camp safely.

The park's goal is for bears to act like bears, to avoid humans, and for humans to realize bears are wild animals that can chase you down in seconds if you run, and kill you in an instant, whether they intend to or not.

Wildlife watchers in many cases attach names to charistmatic megafauna like bears and wolves, and that builds a stronger connection with them, though it might not be for the best. In this case, some on Social Media said the grizzly was one known as Blaze.

“I think a lot of the criticism and stuff over Social Media was because people thought it was a bear that was special to them because it had a name," said Gunter. "Most of those people probably don’t know if it’s 'Blaze' or not. They didn’t see the bear for one. They’re basing it on the area that the bear was caught in, but we have multiple females with cubs in that area.”

Social Media can be both a tool and a weapon. Bears, well, they're bears. They're unpredictable.