An Oregon man was attacked by a grizzly while camped in a public campground near the Northeast Entrance to Yellowstone National park, on July 18th.  Steve Bartley was on a 5 day motorcycle trek and was awakened by the bear as it hit his head and neck through the tent.  When he tried to unzip the tent to escape the bear latched on to his right hand breaking bones, and lacerating it.  The bear was scared away by his screams and struggles, and emergency personell responded.  He was transported to a hospital in Cody Wyoming.  After surgery, stitches and pinning the broken bones. doctors expect nearly full use of his hands. 

What has happened AFTER the attack?

Well R.E.I. has replaced his four man tent that was destroyed in the attack, and thrown in a free can of bear spray.  That’s a pretty good warranty. 

Montana Fish and Wildlife officials have captured the bear and sent it to the Washington State University Bear Research Center to study. 

Now these two things raise a few questions with me…

Had Mr. Bartley defended him self in the attack by killing the bear, would REI have been as generous?   

The Article mentions that the bear was tagged #495.  Did he have a history of human encounters?  Or was this her first? It would be interesting to know whether she was a repeat offender to use the parlance of human “criminal justice”.  I did a quick google search and found from the Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks website:

FWP personnel set two traps in the Soda Butte Campground on July 18 in an attempt to trap a bear. A young adult female grizzly, known as bear number 495, was caught in a trap at the site of the incident on July 22. The bear was captured and collared in 2005 in Wyoming in a livestock depredation-related incident.

Will the WSU Bear Research Center be able to determine what we can do to re-establish fear of humans in bears and other predators who reside in high human traffic areas?  Certainly reducing attractants such as food is the first step, but a negative reinforcement, or aversion therapy based approach could prove worthwhile.  Obviously this bear #495 has a history of human and livestock encounters. 

While at the University of Idaho I often drove by the bear pens outside of Pullman Washington and mavelled at the size and strength of the large creatures.  Lets hope that the researchers there can determine how to make bears not view humans as prey.

You can read the full story from the Seattle times.