JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. — An unidentified 45-year-old man was injured Saturday morning after an encounter with a female grizzly bear west of Cody, Wyoming.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Wyoming Game and Fish Department are still investigating the attack. From what they have been able to piece t0gether to far, the man was elk hunting when he was attacked after a sudden encounter at close range with an adult female grizzly bear with two cubs. The female grizzly was killed by the hunter and his hunting partner.
Game and Fish euthanized her two cubs of the year as they likely would not have survived on their own.
The hunter was able out to the trailhead where he was then flown by helicopter to an area hospital where he is receiving treatment for what was initially reported as non-life-threatening injuries.
“The Service sends our thoughts to the injured individual as he recovers,” said Dan Coil, special agent in charge for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. “The Service partners with states to manage grizzly bears in grizzly country and appreciates Wyoming Game and Fish responding to the incident.”
Grizzly bears in Wyoming and the lower 48 states are protected under the federal Endangered Species Act. The Service continues to work collaboratively with Wyoming and other states in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem to manage grizzly bears.
“The safety of outdoor recreationists is always at the forefront of our minds,” said Cody regional wildlife supervisor Dan Smith for Wyoming Game and Fish. “Our thoughts are with the individual who was injured and we wish him a full and speedy recovery.”
