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Grizzly suspected in attack on park safety manager
By MIKE STARK
Of The Gazette Staff
A Yellowstone National Park employee was attacked by a bear early Sunday morning near Gardiner, just north of the park.
Ken Meyer, the park's safety manager, was hunting for black bear when he was mauled by what is believed to be a female grizzly bear with cubs, Al Nash, a Yellowstone spokesman, said Sunday night.
Meyer sustained injuries to his arms, legs and chest, he said.
He underwent surgery at Livingston Memorial Hospital. He remained hospitalized Sunday night but his condition was not available. Nash said details of the incident were still sketchy Sunday night. Meyer was apparently walking near or along Little Trail Creek, which is north and west of Gardiner, early Sunday morning when he came upon what he said was a grizzly, Nash said.
The bear attacked him, retreated at some point, then attacked again, Nash said. Meyer said he shot the bear with his rifle, possibly wounding it, before he walked out of the woods and called for help.
Nash said few Park Service employees had spoken to Meyer about the incident. The focus on Sunday was his health.
"We'll try to get information as it's appropriate but surgery and rest are the first orders of the day," Nash said.
Gallatin National Forest officials closed the area after the attack, fearing a wounded bear might be apt to injure others.
Members of the Forest Service, Park Service and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks searched for the bear on the ground and from the air for much of Sunday.
Marna Daley, a spokeswoman for the Gallatin forest, said at one point a team of three or four people were "aggressively charged" by a grizzly during the search but it was not believed to be the bear involved in the earlier mauling.
"They haven't found the bear in question," Daley said.
The search will continue today, likely through use of spotting scopes and probably without aerial support, she said.
The closure includes the area up to one mile on either side of Forest Service Road 1701 from its junction with Travertine County Road, commonly called Travertine Bench, and one mile on either side of Little Trail Creek outside the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness boundary. The area includes Maiden Basin, Little Trail Creek Trail 49 and Lower Little Trail Creek Trail 319 and the Travertine Bench.
The attack is the second in the Yellowstone area this year.
On May 23, Bozeman wildlife author and photographer Jim Cole was mauled by a grizzly in Hayden Valley. He sustained serious injuries to his face but survived. That attack was the first in Yellowstone since 2005.
By MIKE STARK
Of The Gazette Staff
A Yellowstone National Park employee was attacked by a bear early Sunday morning near Gardiner, just north of the park.
Ken Meyer, the park's safety manager, was hunting for black bear when he was mauled by what is believed to be a female grizzly bear with cubs, Al Nash, a Yellowstone spokesman, said Sunday night.
Meyer sustained injuries to his arms, legs and chest, he said.
He underwent surgery at Livingston Memorial Hospital. He remained hospitalized Sunday night but his condition was not available. Nash said details of the incident were still sketchy Sunday night. Meyer was apparently walking near or along Little Trail Creek, which is north and west of Gardiner, early Sunday morning when he came upon what he said was a grizzly, Nash said.
The bear attacked him, retreated at some point, then attacked again, Nash said. Meyer said he shot the bear with his rifle, possibly wounding it, before he walked out of the woods and called for help.
Nash said few Park Service employees had spoken to Meyer about the incident. The focus on Sunday was his health.
"We'll try to get information as it's appropriate but surgery and rest are the first orders of the day," Nash said.
Gallatin National Forest officials closed the area after the attack, fearing a wounded bear might be apt to injure others.
Members of the Forest Service, Park Service and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks searched for the bear on the ground and from the air for much of Sunday.
Marna Daley, a spokeswoman for the Gallatin forest, said at one point a team of three or four people were "aggressively charged" by a grizzly during the search but it was not believed to be the bear involved in the earlier mauling.
"They haven't found the bear in question," Daley said.
The search will continue today, likely through use of spotting scopes and probably without aerial support, she said.
The closure includes the area up to one mile on either side of Forest Service Road 1701 from its junction with Travertine County Road, commonly called Travertine Bench, and one mile on either side of Little Trail Creek outside the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness boundary. The area includes Maiden Basin, Little Trail Creek Trail 49 and Lower Little Trail Creek Trail 319 and the Travertine Bench.
The attack is the second in the Yellowstone area this year.
On May 23, Bozeman wildlife author and photographer Jim Cole was mauled by a grizzly in Hayden Valley. He sustained serious injuries to his face but survived. That attack was the first in Yellowstone since 2005.
