Wyoming could put grizzlies in the crosshairs

The governor of Wyoming wants the feds to take grizzly bears off their endangered list, a move that could open the door to hunting the fearsome animals, which have been blamed for at least four fatal attacks in the last two years in and around Yellowstone National Park. Gov. Matt Mead recently wrote Department of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar asking that he remove federal protection of the grizzly bear under the Endangered Species Act. The May 24 letter, which Salazar's office said is being reviewed, said grizzly bears have "unquestionably recovered within the Yellowstone Ecosystem" and an official close to Mead acknowledged that managed hunts may be needed to control the population. "At some point in time, we would envision hunting grizzlies," Steve Farrell, a policy adviser to Mead, told FoxNews.com. "It's an important tool for population management, just like it is for whitetail deer and elk." But, Farrell claims, the effort to remove the bears from the endangered species list is not solely "driven by this need to hunt them." Grizzlies are relatively common in Canada and Alaska, but are also found in Idaho, Montana, Washington and Wyoming. Adult males can weigh as much as 1,500 pounds and stand as tall as 10 feet on their hind legs. While there were no fatal grizzly attacks from 1986 until 2010 in Yellowstone National Park, at least four people have been killed by them in the area in the last two years:

- August 2011: The remains of a 59-year-old hiker named John Wallace were found by hikers on the Mary Mountain Trail, not far from Old Faithful. Wallace had been hiking alone and an autopsy determined he was killed by a grizzly.

- July 2011: Brian Matayoshi and his wife were hiking a trail in Yellowstone when they encountered a mother grizzly. When they turned to walk away, the bear charged, killing Matayoshi. His wife tried to hide, but was picked up and dropped by the bear, according to reports. She was able to survive by playing dead. Experts said the couple's deadly mistake was retreating.

- July 2010: A 48-year-old camper was dragged out of his tent in Montana's Gallatin National Forest by a mother grizzly. Two other campers at nearby sites also were attacked. The bear was trapped and killed, and scientists said its predatory behavior was unusual and alarming.

- June 2010: A 70-year-old botanist was mauled to death by a grizzly while hiking in the Shoshone National Forest, just east of Yellowstone. Two days later, wildlife officers shot and killed the bear from a helicopter.

The rebounding population of grizzlies - experts estimate there are at least 600 in the area - partially explains the spike in fatal attacks, according to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service grizzly bear recovery coordinator Chris Servheen. "We have more bears in more places, so the encounter frequency is going up, the probability of running into a bear is going up," Servheen told OutsideOnline.com...more