WEST YELLOWSTONE (Montana) – Charles Mock was attacked by a brown bear while he was solo fishing along the Madison River of West Sector Yellowstone Park. The 40-year-old Montana guide died two days after being transported to the hospital.
The grizzly bear, a whopping 190-pound male, Gallatin County authorities inform, was killed the next day by forest rangers. The animal was most likely defending its prey: a moose carcass found a few meters from the attack site.
Mock had the eco-friendly bear spray with him: it does not kill animals and protects humans from possible attacks. It acts up to 9 meters and for 7 seconds. However, the conditions must exist to be able to use it. The man only managed to call 911. It took 50 minutes to find him. They immediately took him away in a sleigh and in an ambulance to the Idaho Falls hospital. But the injuries were lethal. He died after two days.
In a press release, the park authorities explained the circumstances of the killing of the bear, a species considered to be at risk of extinction: “A group of seven officers went to the site of the attack the next day. On the street they were screaming and making noise to ward off the bears. Shortly before reaching the place, the grizzly attacked them. Attempts to hunt him were useless. They had to kill him. “
The Yellowstone region of Montana, Idaho and Wyoming has more than 700 bears. Fatal attacks on humans, rare, have increased over the past two decades as more and more people have moved to rural grizzly habitat areas. In 11 years 8 people have died. The latest victim was three years ago: a hunter’s guide.
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