A grizzly bear cub was struck and killed near Yellowstone National Park last weekend, leaving behind an angry and confused momma bear.
The incident occurred May 26 before dawn on U.S. 191. The driver wasn’t sure what he had struck but the collision badly damaged his truck.
According to Yellowstone Tour Guides, the driver somehow walked safely 200 yards to the tour company’s office, hoping to access a cellphone signal and call for help.
Guide David Reeves was outside preparing to pick up clients. He offered the man a ride back to his truck after the man had telephoned police and a towing company.
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The man said he’d walk. But when Reeves reached the scene first he spotted the carcass of a 1-year-old grizzly bear on the highway and a clearly agitated momma bear.
“She was over the carcass and bluff-charged my vehicle,” Reeves told FTW Outdoors. “I immediately stopped and turned around, knowing that the man could not walk up to that.”
Grizzly bear family near a road this spring in Yellowstone. Photo: ©Pete Thomas
Reeves persuaded the man to accept a ride and, back at the scene, positioned the tour vehicle so the man could safely climb into his truck’s cab.
“His truck was undriveable,” Reeves said. “I told him to wait inside until the sheriff and tow truck arrived, that the bear would kill him [if he got out].”
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Reeves added: “I did potentially save this man’s life, or at least save him from being severely injured. I’m not sure how he made it safely away from the scene [after the collision], walking down the road oblivious to the extreme danger.”
Reeves said that as he left to pick up his tour group, he spotted the grizzly sow walking away from the carcass up a hill. Soon afterward, a friend told him that police had arrived and that the carcass had been picked up.
Black bear mom and cubs alongside Yellowstone road. Photo: ©Pete Thomas
Yellowstone Tour Guides stated on Facebook: “We are glad our guide was there to help prevent this from becoming a much more serious incident.
“This was just an accident, and the man was not speeding, as he wasn’t stopped too much further than the carcass. It was dark which made it hard to see the bear darting across the road in time.”
Yellowstone National Park, in a news release, announced that two adult male black bears were killed two days later, also on U.S. 191 but inside the park.
The park added that an elk and bison also were struck recently, and urged visitors to exercise extreme caution while driving on park roads, especially at night.
–Grizzly bear image atop this post is generic, courtesy of ©Pete Thomas
