Grizzly attack prompts warnings

The grizzly that left a seven-inch slash on shepherd Marcello Suarez’s head recently may be less the average Wyomingite’s worst nightmare than a harbinger of things to come. Suarez herds sheep for the W & M Thoman Ranch. “More people and more bears means more conflict,” said Bear Officer Brian DeBolt, one of two Wyoming Fish and Game employees who investigated the Sept. 14 mauling, which resulted in Suarez being life-flighted to Idaho Falls with numerous claw wounds and a collapsed lung. “It’s just a function of numbers.” The attack occurred in the Upper Green River Basin, near Rock Creek, at 2 a.m. Suarez and coworker Jorge Mesa awoke to the sound of coyotes and barking dogs. They left their tent, located 200-300 yards from the sheep, to investigate. Suarez was suddenly attacked from behind by what he later recalled as a collared bear with “teeth that were plenty sharp and long,”,according to Dick Thoman, whose mother, Missy, employs the two men. Suarez owes his life to the six Pyranees guard dogs that drove the grizzly off, Thoman added. He subsequently sent out an e-mail describing the attack and warning hunters to “beware, be safe, and watch your back.” “This is a serious issue,” Thoman later commented, referring to the fact that, over the last 15 years, the number of grizzlies in the Upper Green River Basin has multiplied to the point that attacks on livestock in the area are “almost a weekly occurrence.” Conflicts between bears and livestock in the area have been increasing since the mid 90s, according to Mark Bruscino, WG&F bear management supervisor...read more