I don’t think I’ve read of anyone running on a trail getting killed by a bear before:
Runner Killed by Grizzly Bear in Yellowstone National Park (msn.com)
Condolences to her family and friends.
Last year a cyclist local to me (Westport, CT) ran into a bear on a decent at about 40mph.
Broke his arm (the cyclist) and the bear ran off into the woods.
No information as to the bears injuries.
I don’t think I’ve read of anyone running on a trail getting killed by a bear before:
Runner Killed by Grizzly Bear in Yellowstone National Park (msn.com)
Condolences to her family and friends.
A few years ago, a mountain biker was killed by a grizzly just outside of Glacier National Park. I believe it was two guys riding together and the first one ran into the bear on the trail and was mauled to death.
I do a lot of running in the mountains of TN and NC, and have encountered a fair number of black bears. Knock on wood, but so far, I have not had a problem with any of them. Even had one experience where I turned the corner, on a trail, and there was a large black bear right in the middle of the trail, no more than ten feet from me. I stopped dead in my tracks, started talking loudly, and slowly backed up facing the bear. He stood up and sniffed at me, but then went off into the woods.
The idea of running alone, in grizzly country, is scary. Yeah, I know the possibility of death is still extremely small, but grizzly bears are more aggressive (and much larger) than black bears. When I am in Montana/Wyoming, I always hike with a larger group.
this kind of story as happen a few times in canada with a few runners getting killed. In pretty much all cases, the runners didnt have bear spay with them and i cant stress how important it is in bear country to carry bear spray, know how to reach it quick and use it. the spray can not be in your bag… it as to be with in reach in seconds.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/woman-killed-in-bear-attack-in-alberta-1.532865
Here’s the link to an article on the person killed by a grizzly while mtb’ing:
https://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/local/2017/03/06/bike-collision-grizzly-determined-cause-fatal-encounter/98818710/
Brad was a standout runner when I was coaching HS T&F in MT.
I thought this mention in the article was particularly interesting:
“A 2000 study in Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada, found that though hikers greatly outnumber bikers on trails, the number of bear encounters for the bikers was disproportionately high. The study attributed the numbers to increased speed and stealth when traveling.â€
I know, personally, that whenever I’m mtb’ing or on the local canal trail I’m always surprised how quickly I come up on animals and how close I get.
PS- I have an upcoming trip to Yellowstone and already ruled out trail running (and solo hiking), before seeing this story.
3 months ago in Italy Endangered bear attacks and kills jogger on woodland path in Italy (9news.com.au)
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I don’t think I’ve read of anyone running on a trail getting killed by a bear before:
Runner Killed by Grizzly Bear in Yellowstone National Park (msn.com)
Condolences to her family and friends.
Mentioned there were cub paw prints. That’ll do it.
Unless you come between a Black Bear and their young, or corner them, or actually make contact with one, they will do everything to GTFO of there. I have a personal story that is inline with this too.
Grizzlies - it’s not that uncommon for a Grizzly to see you 30, 40+yds away and charge you. Because of the distances they’ll charge from, it’s not uncommon that you won’t hear them until they are at their full speed. Think land-based Great White Shark, but w/greater odds of attack/charge.
You’re more likely to be attacked by a Grizzly than a Black. If attacked, you’re more likely to survive a Grizzly attack than a Black attack. Grizzlies are about stopping movement, which they consider a threat in their minds - hence the strategy of: if you get attacked by a Grizzly - all you can do is take the slashes & bites, hope they’re not fatal & play dead. Whereas, Blacks are about ensuring their threats are in pieces before stopping their attack - hence, if a Black comes after you, run like you’ve never ran before. Climbing trees won’t save you as Blacks like to climb too.
I’m no expert. I learned the above from a bear scientist who was speaking at a local forum on the National Fish & Wildlife Service (NFWS) plans to relocate Grizzlies from their failure in Montana to the Cascade Mountains just east of Darrington, in Washington State. They sold Montanan’s the same plan a decade+ ago. Weirdly, the Grizzlies they relocated didn’t respect the boundaries on a map the NFWS drew out. They also reproduced at a greater rate than the NFWS stated they would. And, what do you know, Grizzlies like big meals. Since there wasn’t many Moose around, some started targeting cattle hundreds of miles away from there boundaries. Who told the Grizzlies they could cross those map borders??? When those pesky traveling Grizzlies were tranquilized & relocated back into their boundaries (and tagged), they again traveled to the same places they made their cattle kills hundreds of miles away.
I and hundreds of my neighbors were there with our state reps & congress people to figure out how to fight this plan. The last of the Grizzlies migrated from the Washington Cascades north into British Columbia back in the early '90’s due to the lack of big food sources. There’s WAY more Moose in BC. Personally, I’m all for natural wildlife migration. I’m all of wildlife in general. I don’t even hunt. Yes, there’s an argument that human population growth was likely the root of the Cascade Grizzlies migrating north. But, relocating them just east of Darrington means that that they will be looking for food from Bend, OR north into BC and out both east & west of the mountains into populated areas. Not limited to the small area drawn on the map where no one lives.
Anyway, FWIW… if you’re in the PNW and want to learn more about the NFWS Grizzly relocation plans, contact your district state representative.
I’m in Yellowstone for a few weeks. Word from park rangers is she was running alone, using earbuds, and not carrying bear spray. The grizzly was a female with cubs. It’s tragic for the woman, her family and friends but standard precautions could have prevented/changed the outcome.
may her memory be eternal…
we first visited Yellowstone in 1991, grizzly population then was low hundreds. Current population is in the thousands…
We go to Grand Tetons and Yellowstone every few years, the last five years we’ve seen multiple grizzlies on every visit. I no longer trail run in those parks or nearby, the risk is too great. There are some trout streams there and in Montana that I won’t fish anymore for the same reason.
The black bears in Colorado are hunted so they are appropriately shy of humans, except for a few in Rocky Mt national park. No real worries here, though they do show up in the suburbs these days. We’ve had a couple in the neighborhood the last few years.
i definitely would not trail run in Yellowstone. It’s just too easy to surprise any number of animals that would aggressively defend themselves.
From NPS: “The estimated Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem grizzly bear population increased from 136 in 1975 to a peak of 1,063 (estimated) in 2021. The bears have gradually expanded their occupied habitat by more than 50%. As monitored by the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team, the criteria used to determine whether the population within the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem has recovered include estimated population size, distribution of females with cubs, and mortality rates. The number of females producing cubs in the park has remained relatively stable since 1996, suggesting that the park may be at or near ecological carrying capacity for grizzly bears.â€
I’m in Yellowstone for a few weeks. Word from park rangers is she was running alone, using earbuds, and not carrying bear spray. The grizzly was a female with cubs. It’s tragic for the woman, her family and friends but standard precautions could have prevented/changed the outcome.
Wow, so much wrong there. Not to start a discussion about ear buds and running but I’m always surprised when I’m running in the early morning hours, on a lonely trail, and come upon young female runners alone with ear buds in. Yeah they should be able to run with ear buds in if they like but criminals don’t care about that and are simply looking for opportunity. A person who cannot hear others approaching, whether human or animal, is definitely more susceptible to trouble.
I agree with you on the ear buds. And a can of bear spray will work well on a lot of different predators!
I agree with you on the ear buds. And a can of bear spray will work well on a lot of different predators!
Listened to a podcast with Jeff Browning (big time pro ultrarunner) recently and he was talking about running trails in Montana (grizzly country). He said you gotta have the bear spray and you gotta have it immediately accessible (on your pack, on your chest) and not inside your pack where you have to dig for it.
Yep, bear spray near your hand - ie hip belt. Practice pulling it out while you’re running. One add’l recommendation from the park rangers is to run with a back pack for protection. If you wind up on the ground (playing dead) a pack will protect vital organs. Best bet though is to avoid confrontation with bears. Run with a friend/group and chat - loudly. If they hear you, bears will avoid you (barring cubs).
Yellowstone is beautiful and a wonderful place to visit, hike, run. I wouldn’t let one incident of someone who did not take any of the proper precautions keep me away. We’ve seen elk, deer, buffalo and coyotes on our hikes and runs. I can’t wait to come back.