A few days before my solo Beartooth High Lakes hike, nearby a camper was killed and eaten by a bear.
Montana Department of Fish, WIldlife, and Parks (MFWP) officials have captured a 300 – 400 lb. grizzly sow that went berserk in a Montana campground, fatally mauling Kevin Kammer, 48, of Grand Rapids, MI. Two other people were injured in the attack, which took place around 2 a.m. Wednesday, July 28 in Soda Butte Campground on the Gallatin National Forest northeast of Yellowstone. Witnesses said the sow was with three yearling cubs.
MFWP officials say Kammer was by himself in a tent when the attack happened. He was found at around 4 .M. about 25 feet from his tent by a team of state park investigators dispatched to the area on a report of a bear attack. He was a husband and father of four children, ages 8,9, 15 and 19 and he was alone on a fly-fishing vacation. …
The mother bear was euthanized, the cubs sent to a Zoo.
… I saw no bear sign on my own trek.
besthike.com 
That’s bad. I’m sometimes glad there are no Griz in Colorado. I’ve had close encounters with Black Bear, twice physical contact in the wild, and … it was sort of enjoyable. I would not feel that way about Griz.
The perspective to remember is if large predators actually wanted to kill humans, they could do it in a minute, anytime, anywhere. There would be 10,000 deaths by Noon today. It’s sort of unclear why they don’t care about harming us – not sure if I would feel so gracious about another species invading my territory – and when they occasionally do, the reasons for that are unknown as well.
I assume that Grizzly did track and hunt early man. But that somehow they evolved to avoid humans, the more aggressive bears being killed by guns.
That is terrible. But I am surprised about Buzz’s comment regarding Colorado and Grizzlies. Are there only a rare few Grizzlies in Colorado or there really very few because of the mountains and deserts? I have not been there yet but thinking of planning an outdoor vacation there for next spring or summer.
Andrew Szalay
suburbanmountaineer.com
It must have been an awful death for man who was attacked and for his family too, but it is also sad to read that the bear was put to sleep.
There are no wild bears or any other dangerous animals in the UK, but then there are no really large areas of wilderness either, like you have in the US and Canada. In the past I’ve read several blog posts about protecting yourself from bears by hanging your food high up in a tree and making sure that there is no trace of the smell of food around you or your tent. Whilst I am glad that I do not have to do those things when camping, it must be a much better experience being out in a true wilderness.
Also sad is the amount of news concerning the destruction of wilderness areas and the threat of species extinction because of mining, oil exploration and other commercial activities.