A grizzly bear that emerged from a thicket and charged two backpackers in the backcountry of Denali National Park and Preserve was shot and killed by one of the two who was carrying a .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol, according to park officials.
The killing Friday is believed to be the first instance of a hiker killing a grizzly in the park's wilderness. The killing occurred in the original Mount McKinley National Park portion of the Denali, which was expanded by two-thirds in 1980.
Until February, when Congress changed the rules, it was illegal to carry a loaded firearm in that portion of Denali. While the rule change now allows hikers to carry firearms in all areas of Denali, it still is illegal to discharge them, park officials said.
Park officials did not speculate whether the killing was justified. This is believed to be the first instance of a visitor to a national park killing an animal with a firearm since the gun regulations were changed.
According to a release from the park, the two backpackers, a man and woman, were hiking in dense brush along the edge of Tattler Creek, which is at the west end of Igloo Canyon roughly 35 miles from the park headquarters.
"The man, who was in the lead, drew a .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol when they heard a noise coming from the brush. When the bear emerged from the thicket and ran toward the other hiker, he fired approximately nine rounds in its general direction. The bear stopped, turned, and walked back into the brush, where it quickly disappeared from view," said the release.
The two then headed roughly 1.5 miles back to a road, where they encountered a park employee, who called in the incident and took the two backpackers to the Toklat Road Camp. A ranger there did a short preliminary interview with them at approximately 10:00 p.m. Because of the concern that a wounded bear was in the area, four backcountry units were immediately closed, and bus drivers were instructed to not drop off day hikers in the Igloo Canyon on Saturday.
"Early Saturday morning rangers and wildlife technicians flew to Toklat via helicopter to conduct a secondary interview with the two backpackers. Afterwards they flew over Tattler Creek and all of side tributaries, very low at times, to determine if there was an active, wounded bear," the park release said. "No bears were seen during the overflight, and late in the afternoon three rangers hiked into the site. The bear was found dead in a willow thicket approximately 100 feet from the pistol casings at approximately 6:00 p.m.
"The bear’s body was transported via helicopter to a landing site on the park road and brought back to headquarters on Sunday, where park wildlife biologists are assisting with the investigation of the bear carcass. The backcountry units have been reopened."
The case is still under investigation, and the names of the backpackers are not being released at this time. Park wildlife biologists and rangers are trying to determine if there was a justification for shooting the animal.
The estimated grizzly bear population in the park north of the Alaska Range north is 300-350 animals.
Comments
Bears are scarce. Humans are not, to the point of converting the entire wild biomass of Earth into more humans. Bears are more precious and valuable than humans. Humans who think their lives are more precious than the last remaining grizzlies should stay home in bed. Why do you think human lives, given that there are billions and billions of us, are more valuable than that of grizzlies?
Your attitude is why our planet is in such peril: you probably think humans have the "right" to eat every wild tuna, carve every rhino horn, etc for our amusement. Please extinctify yourself and your family and make room for more wildness!
Amen!!!
I would encourage you Kurt to follow up on this with the park Chief Ranger. Surely the investigation is finished by now.
Certain areas of Denali should be closed to hikers. Very soon another bear will be killed because hikers are hiking through very thick brush in the middle of their habitat where they are known to be living and where they are seen every day. There is a lot of area in Denali where you can see what is around you from a great distance. The hikers were foolish to be hiking in that particular area. The shooting was probally justified but easily could have been avoided....
I know some idiot will think I am saying that hikers should not be allowed in Denali at all, thats not what I'm saying...but within Denali there are certain small areas where bears are found every single day. You have about a 95% chance of seeing the bears in these areas all the time, so people who go hiking in them are just foolish.
Way to much speculation at present. Once all the facts are in then we won't have to speculate, right?
First and foremost....I glad the hikers survived and I'm sad the Grizzly had to die! But, if the hiker
left his gun at home we might be reading "Two hikers killed by Grizzly" Don't think we would want to read the latter, but lets wait for all the information.
Happy trails
Mike C.
If you refering to the fellow who spent many monthe with the GRIZZLY and the decidec to take his
girl friend on a little adventure which got them both killed. First they went to an area that they were new to and the bears in that area did not know them. They camped on a feeding train just off the beach and they were just setting up camp when the two bears arrived, first the larger of the two then a smaller one.
The larger bear attacked the young lady first then he want after the boyfriend. The pilot that came to check
on them almost got killed himself. Both bears were killed by a Rangers/Warden using a .40 cal. pistol.
I do beleive the mistake was moving to a new area where the bears had not encountered humans before.
Same story?
Happy trails
Mike C.
My belief is that the person that killed this bear is not a poacher, obviously they are not experienced as you are and if you have lived through multiple bluff charges than i also consider you not only experienced but also very lucky. If a bear is charging and is close enough were a 45 takes it down than that is too close for comfort i dont care who you are and what kind of nerves of steal you have. I have shot many 45s and for multiple shots to take down a grizzly it had to have been at close range. A inexperienced hiker around a charging bear isn't going to wait around to see if its a bluff or not, this person is naturally\instinctively going to protect themselves. If you get charged by a grizzly and its 10ft-20ft away, are you going to gamble with your life that its a bluff charge? Not I !!! OH NO I AM GETTING CHARGED BY A GRIZZLY!!!!, ITS FEET AWAY !!! ILL JUST STAND HERE WITH MY THUMB UP BY BUTT AND WAIT TO SEE IF ITS A BLUFF CHARGE OR NOT. Odds are it may be a bluff, but no one can be 100% certain.
This person should not be charged with any crime for protecting themselves.
[edited for gratuitous remark]
If the grizzly was shot in the front , then it was justified, if the grizzly was shot in the ass while running away then that person should be buried under the jail.
[This comment was very heavily edited for gratuitous remarks.]