Grizzly deaths reach legal 'trigger point' A female grizzly bear shot by a Pennsylvania elk hunter this week will push mortality levels for the bears past a management "trigger point" - only a year and a half after Yellowstone's grizzlies were removed from the endangered-species list.
Federal overseers of the bears are not panicking, however. "We've had high levels of mortality in the past. This isn't unprecedented. It does happen," said Chris Servheen, grizzly bear coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "I don't think this is a crisis at all. Populations are still increasing." But environmental groups, who have sued to restore threatened status for Yellowstone grizzlies, are worried. Surprised by the female grizzly Wednesday, the hunter fired his .300 Winchester Short Magnum rifle, possibly shooting through the female and killing her cub. The man was hunting in the Cinnabar Basin, northwest of Gardiner, with an outfitter who had left him at the edge of a clearing. When the bear wandered close, the hunter stood and yelled. The bear rushed toward the man in defense of her cub of the year....