Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Fatal grizzly attacks trigger policy review

Yellowstone National Park officials say they’ll review park policies following two fatal grizzly attacks this summer. One incident involved a solo hiker, John Wallace, 59, of Michigan, who died Aug. 25 of injuries after being mauled. His body was discovered the next day. The other involved 57-year-old Brian Matayoshi, of California, who died in July after he was attacked by a female grizzly with two cubs. His wife, who was hiking with him, was unharmed. Both attacks occurred in areas known as grizzly habitat. Rangers encourage park visitors to carry bear spray and to hike in groups of three or more. The deaths were the first from grizzly attacks in Yellowstone since 1986, said Al Nash, park spokesman, who noted that the odds of being injured by a bear in Yellowstone are extremely low – about 1 in 3 million. However, he said, “I expect us to have an in-depth and robust discussion about our visitor safety in light of these two incidents.”...more

I just can't imagine the Park Service doing anything "robust". Plodding maybe, but certainly not robust.

No comments: