That message from a 1993 "Manual For Handling Bears For Managers and Researchers" could be a concern to government officials in the wake of a fatal bear mauling on June 17 by a grizzly that had just been trapped, tranquilized, and released.
The manual was included in a recent report on the June 17 mauling of Erwin Evert near Yellowstone Park.
Jamie Jonkel of the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks wrote the manual, which was "produced in cooperation with the office of " U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Grizzly Bear Recovery Coordinator Chris Servheen.
The manual ends by saying, "The legalities encompassing bear research and management are vague. Government and state employees have the obligation to protect people. The majority of the public assumes they will be warned if dangerous animals are in the area.
It is difficult to define the mandatory duty of a bear researcher or manager. Whenever in doubt, the agency's attorney should be consulted. It all comes down to an issue of 'adequate warning.' When a researcher of manager can prevent an injury by informing the public, they have a duty to do so.
Future court suits involving bears, the public, bear managers, and researchers are inevitable. Bear researchers and managers must make careful decisions and always warn the public when a trap has been placed in the vicinity or when there is a potential for a confrontation. Education and communication are the best tools when working with the media and the public."
The Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team (IGBST) did not inform the media it would be trapping grizzly bears in the Kitty Creek drainage on the Shoshone National Forest.
Bear attack victim Erwin Evert had a summer cabin on Kitty Creek. There were 13 other cabins nearby. The IGBST trap site where Evert died was just 3700 feet from the nearest cabin. The trap site was baited with smelly animal carcasses and specially fermented blood. The IGBST did not inform cabin owners it was baiting and trapping grizzlies nearby.
Forest Service trail #756 led up Kitty Creek to the bear trapping sites. There were no signs posted at the trailhead warning about bear trapping in the area.
Researchers do post a few warning signs 50-100 yards from trapping sites. But on June 17, they released a still-groggy grizzly, took down their signs, and moved on at 12:30 pm.
Erwin Evert left his cabin for a walk at 12:45 p.m. The report suggests he was killed by around 2 pm just 21 yards from the exact spot the grizzly had been trapped.
When an officer from the Park Country Sheriff's Department visited the site of the fatality, his report noted the trap site was "not marked in any way as to warn hikers of the bear activity occuring at this location."
Both reports stress that Erwin Evert knew bears were being trapped up Kitty Creek. A friend reputedly advised Evert to stay away. That could be, but the fact is, Evert did not enter an area that was posted and closed. Evert never heard a word about the trapping from the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team.
Does a word of mouth recommendation from a friend who had no affiliation with the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team constitute, "adequate warning?"
Or is a court suit inevitable?
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