Greg Gerber posted on July 29, 2010 14:12
COOKE CITY, Mont. -- When he heard the first scream in a campground outside Yellowstone National Park, Don Wilhelm thought it was just teenagers or a domestic dispute, the Associated Press reported. As he tried to drift back to sleep, he heard another scream from the campsite next door.
"First she said, "No!' Then we heard her say, 'It's a bear! I've been attacked by a bear!" said Wilhelm's wife, Paige, of the Canadian woman who had been bitten in the arm.
A few minutes later, the bear had ripped into another tent, biting a teenager on the leg, who tried to ward off the attack by punching the bear in the nose. A few minutes later, they learned a solo camper had been mauled to death on the other end of the heavily occupied Soda Butte Campground.
One wildlife official described the event as the most brazen bear attack in the Yellowstone area since the 1980s. They baited five baited traps around the campground to catch the animal or animals involved.
"We don't know if it was one bear, two bears, a black bear or grizzly bear," Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks spokesman Ron Aasheim said. "Obviously, the bear's gone now. Will it come back tonight? That's the question."
To read the complete Associated Press report, click here.