After an investigation, preliminary results showed that he was attacked by at least one grizzly bear. His body was discovered Friday by a park ranger about a half-mile from the nearest developed trail, hidden by the animals beneath pine needles and dirt. “As park managers, we are constantly working to strike a balance between the preservation of park resources and the safety of our park visitors and employees”, Dan Wenk, superintendent of Yellowstone National Park, said in a press release.
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The body of 63 year old Lance Crosby was found near Elephant Back Loop trail near Yellowstone Lake Friday. One bear was captured during the overnight hours and biologists confirmed later that it was an adult female grizzly.
Hikers are advised to stay on designated trails, travel in groups of three or more people, carry bear spray, be alert for bears, and make noise to help avoid surprise encounters.
Park officials have said the cubs also could be killed if no place can be found for them in a zoo or animal rehabilitation facility.
The bear and the cub have since been captured while the other cub remains in the wild. Relatively few run-ins lead to death or injury, and the probability of being attacked by a bear is only slightly greater than the chance of being struck by lightning, park officials say. Bruising around puncture wounds on Crosby’s forearms suggested he had tried to defend himself, officials said.
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Wenk said, “We have no way of knowing what the circumstances were around his death”. According to Yellowstone National Park spokeswoman Amy Bartlett, the park expects the results to come in tomorrow. The last fatality caused by a bear attack was in 2011, when two people were killed in separate incidents, according to the National Park Service.
