Man shot a grizzly bear in Montana after it attacked him

BILLINGS, Montana – A 72-year-old man picking blueberries in Montana shot and killed a grizzly bear after it attacked him in a surprise encounter, injuring him so badly that he had to be hospitalized, authorities said Friday.

The man was alone on national forest property when the adult bear attacked him Thursday. He suffered significant injuries before killing the bear with a handgun, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks officials said.

The bear probably took a defensive action to protect its cubs, agency spokesman Dillon Tabish said.

Wildlife officials have set up trail cameras in the area to confirm the presence of cubs. If cubs are found, it is uncertain whether they will be captured because it is difficult to find facilities qualified to take them, he said.

“Depending on their age, we may leave them in the wild because they have a better chance of survival there than having to euthanize them,” Tabish said.

According to the state wildlife agency, the attack occurred in the Flathead National Forest about two miles north of Columbia Falls, a city in northwest Montana with about 5,500 residents.

The victim’s name and further details about his condition were not released.

Meanwhile, Fish, Wildlife & Parks officials shot and killed an adult female grizzly bear on Thursday after the animal became accustomed to searching people for food and breaking into homes in and around Gardiner, a town of about 800 people north of Yellowstone National Park.

Animal feed, garbage and grills left outside and accessible to bears contributed to the problem, according to a statement from the agency. No one was injured before the bear was shot in the Yellowstone River.

Sometimes, game wardens capture and relocate grizzly bears that are known to cause problems for humans. However, they kill bears that are involved in predatory behavior against humans or that are believed to continue to cause problems after relocation.

The Gardiner-area grizzly was killed about 300 miles south of the unrelated attack in the Columbia Falls area. An estimated 2,000 grizzlies roam western Wyoming, eastern Idaho and western Montana, while several thousand more live in the Canadian Rockies and Alaska.

Grizzly bears in the United States are listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. Politicians in the Rocky Mountain states are urging the federal government to revoke their protected status, which could open the possibility for future hunts.