Black Bear Euthanized After Mauling 3-Year-Old Girl at Campground

A black bear was captured and euthanized in Montana after mauling a 3-year-old girl at a Montana campground north of Yellowstone Park on Sunday, authorities reported.

The incident occurred around 10 p.m. local time on Sunday at a private campsite just south of Red Lodge when the bear attacked the child inside a tent, according to the Associated Press (AP), which cited the Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP) department.

The young girl was immediately rushed to a hospital in Billings, although her condition remains undisclosed as of Tuesday, according to Montana FWP.

Following the attack, the campground was then evacuated as officials set traps to capture the bear.

By Monday afternoon, a bear believed to be responsible for the attack was captured and euthanized, game warden Randy Hutzenbiler told the AP. However, traps remain in the area as a precaution.

Newsweek has reached out to the Montana FWP on Tuesday via email for comment.

While the incident continues to be investigated, Hutzenbiler said, “There were attractants in the area,” which can include food and unsecured garbage, that may have lured the bear.

Wildlife experts have urged campers to keep food, trash and any scented items out of tents and to store them in bear-resistant containers or vehicles to prevent any interactions.

Meanwhile, this is not the first time a bear has recently been euthanized following an attack.

In late July, a bear that attacked a runner in Utah was euthanized.

The man had been trail running in Big Cottonwood Canyon, about 12 miles southeast of Salt Lake City, when an adult female black bear came out of the bushes and bit his arm.

The bear was later tracked by the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources using dogs and euthanized.

“Because the bear had shown aggressive behavior and injured a person, it was euthanized, per policy,” the division wrote in a news release Wednesday night, as reported by news station Fox13 Salt Lake City.

Meanwhile, black bears are thriving throughout the United States and human interactions are increasing in 18 states—with more than 46,000 incidents reported to state agencies in 2022, according to data compiled by the International Association for Bear Research and Management.

The 18 states identified in the report were Alabama, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Idaho, Iowa, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont and Virginia.

“The conservation success of the American black bear has put more black bears on the landscape,” Carl Lackey, co-chair of the nonprofit’s management committee, previously told Newsweek. “So, more people and more bears kind of equals more human-bear conflicts.”

However, while Lackey said the vast majority of Americans who live among the estimated 471,000 black bears in 41 states will never have harrowing experiences, there are few people who take the necessary precautions “until the bear is knocking on their door.”

“People know that they have bears in their neighborhood, but they don’t take the steps to prevent conflicts until it actually touches them personally,” he said.
The widespread uptick of encounters—largely driven by bears in search of food— also shows no signs of abating.

“As the bear population expands, they’re looking for places to go,” Lackey said. “And bears are very adaptable, very opportunistic. They adapt very well to making a living in and amongst human development.”

To avoid conflicts with black bears, which can exceed 600 pounds and 7 feet tall when upright, eliminating attractants like food, garbage and bird feeders are vital first steps since they’re emboldened once spotting a potential source.

“Their behavior will escalate,” Lackey said. “They come around at night, they get into a garbage can, nothing bad happens to them. And then they’ll escalate in that conflict behavior to the point where they start breaking into homes and becoming a real danger to public safety.”