Bronco Posted June 16, 2004 Posted June 16, 2004 Reefer madness: Grizzly with penchant for human treats captured and marked By SCOTT McMILLION, Chronicle Staff Writer A marijuana-munching grizzly bear with a history of belly-flopping on tents in Yellowstone National Park likely has a short future in the wild. The 332-pound, 5-year-old bear has been captured, marked and released so rangers can tell if he reverts any of his old tricks again. Unfortunately, the bear has earned some food rewards from his behavior. That, coupled with his apparent lack of fear of humans, means that if he pulls any more stunts, he'll likely be killed or sent to a zoo. For the past two summers, the bear has been pouncing on tents both in front country and backcountry campsites in the northern reaches of Yellowstone, park grizzly specialist Kerry Gunther said Tuesday. In most cases, the bear got no food rewards. But in one incident, he might have gotten more than he bargained for. The tent contained some marijuana and some candy. "There was one where he got marijuana and something like Skittles or gummy bears or something," Gunther said. There wasn't much marijuana in the tent "but it looked like the bear did eat some." In a case last summer, campers at the Slough Creek campground had a video camera and captured images of the assault on their tent. "The bear just did a belly flop on the tent and walked away," Gunther said. "It looked like he was having fun." The bear also has learned to paw through untended saddle bags and backpacks, he said. Rangers had tried unsuccessfully for two years to capture him. "He's a hit and run kind of guy," Gunther said. But they finally caught up with him May 24 in the Soda Butte Creek area. Distinctive because of some light coloring on his hind quarters and an unusually long tail, officials are pretty sure he's the same animal they've been looking for. He'll be easy to identify in the future. He's been fitted with red ear tags and a GPS radio collar wrapped in bright yellow ribbon. Since the capture, a pilot spotted the bear between two buildings in Cooke City, eating garbage, Gunther said, and the bear is now in the backcountry. Residents in that town northeast of the park have seen him often enough to bestow a nickname. They call him Thumper, Gunther said, while Park Service officials usually call him "the long-tailed bear." The bear has never injured anybody, but since people have allowed him to get food rewards -- the people who left the marijuana and candy in their tent were ticketed, Gunther said -- park officials have little choice but to remove him if he comes into contact with people again. "He's definitely food-conditioned and he's acclimated" to people, Gunther said. "It's a bad combination." It's both illegal and dangerous to leave food where a bear can get it, the Park Service reiterated Tuesday. "Human foods are the chief culprit in the creation of problem bears and can lead to their becoming increasingly aggressive, requiring their destruction or removal from the area." This isn't the first time in Yellowstone a bear has taken to crashing tents. A few years ago, Gunther captured a bear with similar habits. That one had been nicknamed Kelty, after the popular brand of tents, and eluded capture until Gunther found the right enticement. "I baited him in with a tent," Gunther recalled. Quote
cracked Posted June 16, 2004 Posted June 16, 2004 Lay off the brownies, Dru. The 332-pound, 5-year-old bear Quote
AaronB Posted June 16, 2004 Posted June 16, 2004 Anyone have that link to the picture of the Griz using eyedrops? Quote
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