A black bear mauled and mauled a 3-year-old girl in a tent at a private campground in Montana just north of Yellowstone National Park over the weekend, state wildlife officials said.
The girl was attacked around 10 p.m. Sunday at a campground south of Red Lodge and taken to the hospital in Billings. Fish, Wildlife and Parks had no information on her condition Tuesday, game warden Randy Hutzenbiler said.
The campsite was evacuated and traps were placed in the area. A bear believed to have been involved was captured and euthanized Monday afternoon, Hutzenbiler said.
“FWP believes it was the bear involved in the incident but is continuing capture attempts at the scene until tomorrow afternoon for due diligence,” the agency said in a statement on social media.
The Game Agency still has traps in the area.
“There were decoys in the area,” Hutzenbiler said, which may contain food and unsecured trash.
Billings couple Don and Lisa Wilcox told MTN News that they often wander in the area and tents are vulnerable.
“The campfires and the food is out and going and everything like that, you’re going to see it draw some wild animals,” Don Wilcox told the station, adding that he and his wife no longer sleep in tents and always carry bear spray.
The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency recommends that food, garbage and anything with a scent be kept out of tents and stored in bear-proof containers or vehicles.
In the year 2021, a grizzly bear dragged a woman from her tent in a small town in Montana in the middle of the night and killed her.
Black bears are smaller than grizzlies but they can still have dangerous interactions with humans. In March, a woman was in western Pennsylvania seriously injured of a black bear after letting his dog out. Last year was a different woman attacked by a black bear while walking her dog in Connecticut.
In June, an autopsy found that a California woman found dead in her home in 2023 was killed by a black bear — the state’s first recorded case of such a fatal attack.