Execution of Yellowstone grizzly bear #646 no longer a mystery

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service grizzly bear recovery coordinator Chris Servheen's decision to execute bear #646 perplexed people when it happened on June 19, but now that reporters have dug up accurate information on the situation, the disturbing truth is readily apparent.

The strange saga of bear #646 began on June 17 when, Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team biologists Chad Dickinson and Seth Thompson caught #646 in foot snare. They were trapping bears in the Kitty Creek drainage of the Shoshone National Forest, about eight miles from the East Entrance of Yellowstone National Park. The trap site was 1.4 miles from the trailhead,

Dickinson and Thompson tranquilized bear #646, put on a radio collar, and waited for the bruin to recover. It was their last day of trapping in the area, so they took down warning signs that had been posted in a 50-to-100 yard perimeter around the trap site.

They left the bear behind at 12:30 PM. Bear #646 was alert, but not fully ambulatory. It couldn't stand up.

At 2 PM, #646 killed 70 year-old Erwin Evert. Later in the day, Chad Dickinson found Evert's body just 21 yards from the tree where #646 had been caught in a foot snare.

Evert died from massive damage to the head. The bear did not scavenge the body. This suggests a classic surprise encounter where a person startles a nearby grizzly, and the bear reacts defensively. It charges, knocks the person down, and once the"threat" is removed, the bear gets out of Dodge. It's perfectly natural behavior for a grizzly bear.

On the evening of June 18, Wyoming Game and Fish Department bear specialist Mark Bruscino accompanied Chad Dickinson back to the trap site to examine the scene. Bruscino knew there were no warning signs posted. He knew #646 killed Evert just 21 yards away from the snare tree because he helped do the measurements.

On June 18 at 6:45 AM, Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team biologist Mark Haroldson discussed the situation with U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service grizzly bear recovery coordinator Chris Servheen. Mr. Servheen decides whether a bear lives or dies.

Chris Servheen called Haroldson at 1 PM "wanting information regarding captured bears."

Haroldson called Chad Dickinson, who informed him the bear "was a new, previously unmarked adult male."

The absence of markings--a lip tatoo--means bear #646, a 10 year-old male, had never gotten into conflicts with people in the past. It had never done anything wrong. Now it's life was about to end.

Haroldson called back Servheen at 1:10 PM."with information regarding bears."

Later in the day, Mark Bruscino "contacted Chris Servheen and we decided to remove [kill] bear 646 if given the opportunity."

The opportunity came early the next morning. Since #646 could easily be located by its radio collar, it was gunned down from a helicopter.

Why was bear #646 executed?

Servheen told the Billings Gazette he decided to authorize killing the bear "because experts could not determine whether the animal's actions were natural and defensive, or aberrant and unusually aggressive."

Did grizzly bear #646 deserve to die?

If the bear's behavior was aberrant or unusually aggressive, you don't need a PhD in wildlife biology to figure out why--drugs.

Looking back with 20/20 hindsight, it's apparent Servheen's decision to execute bear #646 had nothing to do with the bear's behavior. Instead, killing the bear was necessary to execute a well-organized strategy to blame the victim--Erwin Evert.

Servheen and Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team leader Chuck Schwartz got a careeer-saving break on the day Evert was killed when officials discovered Evert had found trap site #2 on June 9. Evert mentioned it to his friend (and family friend) Chuck Neal, who told him to stay away. Trap site #2 was about 2 miles away from trap site #3 where Evert died.

After Evert's wife Yolanda got the terrible news about her husband, she called Chuck Neal and he came to the Evert's cabin, where a swarm of agency representatives was gathering. Neal told agency officials Evert was aware of "the" trap site, and had seen a sign that said, "Dangerous Bear."

From this point on, bear trapping protocols became a non-issue.

Yolanda Evert had just lost her husband, but like hyenas circling a bloody and wounded gazelle, representatives from the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, U.S. Forest Service, and other agencies all asked Yolanda if her husband had been to "the" trap site. Wink, wink. The answer was "yes." Useful information for the media and official reports about Evert's death.

Yolanda Evert and Chuck Neal didn't know there were two trap sites. Servheen and Schwartz weren't about to tell them. Or the media.

Yolanda Evert and Chuck Neal didn't know only trap site #2 had a sign that said, "Dangerous bear." The signs at trap site #1 and trap site #3 were different. Erwin Evert had been to trap site #2 on June 9, not trap site #3.

Servheen, Schwartz, and other officials were quick to take advantage of Yolanda Evert and Chuck Neal's confusion. While Neal told reporters Evert had been to "the" trap site and seen warning signs, Servheen and Schwartz kept quiet about the fact Dickinson and Thompson had removed the warning signs at trap site #3 where Evert was killed.

On June 19, Servheen told the Billings Gazette, "We try to do  everything we can to minimize the risks. But we can't protect ourselves against people that ignore every warning we give, and we can't protect people against themselves."

That same day, the Cody Enterprise reported, "Chuck Schwartz, head of the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team based in Bozeman, Mont, said Friday there would be an investigation into whether required procedures were followed, such as posting warning signs about the grizzly research."

A month later when Servheen and other officials released an in-house investigation admitting the signs had been removed from trap site #3 before Evert died, it hardly mattered. The public was already convinced Evert got killed because he walked past warning signs and into a grizzly.

It was a public-relations coup for Servheen and Schwartz. It was an unspeakably cruel hoax to play on Evert's grieving wife and daughter.

After Evert's death, the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study team established guidelines that require warning signs must be left up at trap sites at least 3 days after the operation ends. Biologists now monitor tranquilized bears until they're ambulatory and have moved away from the trap site. Prior to beginning a bear trapping operation, a news release goes out warning that trapping is occurring on the Shoshone National Forest, or some other general area. Exact locations are not disclosed, it's just a head's up so people in the area are aware of what's happening. These common sense protocols could have saved Evert's life.

If Servheen and Schwartz had told the truth about Evert's death from day one, they could have let bear #646 live. The public would have understood.

Of course if Servheen and Schwartz had told the truth about Evert's death from day one, the media would have known there were no warning signs posted at trap site #3. The media would have known there were two trap sites, and that Evert had found trap site #2 on June 9, not trap site #3 where he was killed. The media and the public would have focused on the absence of grizzly bear trapping protocols.

Bear #646 was executed to cover-up government malfeasance.