On Sunday morning, tourists in Yellowstone National Park witnessed an attack by an adult female grizzly bear on her subadult male offspring.
That was swiftly followed by a more savage attack by a 500-pound male grizzly bear that had been hoping to mate with the female bear. The 148-pound, 3-year-old subadult sustained serious wounds and was later euthanized by park staff.
It appeared to have been a natural event. Adult male grizzly bears that are trying to mate will attack and sometimes kill cubs or smaller male bears. It could be that the female bear’s initial attack was an attempt to persuade the subadult to flee the danger zone.
ALSO: Surreal footage shows rare orca encounter off Cape Cod
In any event, since conflicting reports have circulated via social media, FTW Outdoors asked the park for a timeline description of what occurred. It reads:
–The male subadult bear, weighing 148 pounds, was seen digging on the roadside prior to the attack, unaware that a mating pair of grizzly bears was approaching it.
–The female of the mating pair aggressively attacked the subadult bear. It was then able to temporarily free itself, but the large male grizzly, estimated to be over 500 pounds, attacked and pinned it to the ground before leaving it. The subadult bear attempted to get up, which caused the male bear to attack it a second time by grabbing and shaking its neck and head.
–Bear management staff arrived on scene and observed the subadult bear for an hour and determined that it was not going to survive.
–Staff hazed the mating pair away from the road, moved visitors from the scene, and then euthanized the subadult bear and removed it from the roadside.
–Biologists performed a necropsy on the bear and determined it suffered significant injuries, including massive head, neck and spinal wounds, a broken right shoulder and a laceration in the right flank exposing its organs.
–Grizzly bear image is generic